Support HealthWatcher.net

Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science

"Science," he says, "is the only way humankind has found of separating truth from fraud or mere foolishness; it's what we've learned about how not to fool ourselves."
With acerbic wit and humorous repartee, Robert L. Park, professor of physics at the University of Maryland, asks why we believe weird things even when no evidence supports our claims.
"Science," he writes, "is the only way of knowing--everything else is superstition. Everything in the universe is governed by the same natural laws; there is a physical cause behind every event."
A humanist and naturalist, Park asserts that science rejects appeal to authority in favor of empirical evidence. He attacks pseudoscience--from so-called "intelligent design" and young-Earth fundamentalism to New Age mysticism, homeopathic "remedies," and snake-oil "cures."

Trick or Treatment:
by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst

The ultimate verdict on alternative medicine.

Welcome to the world of alternative medicine. Prince Charles is a staunch defender and millions of people swear by it; most UK doctors consider it to be little more than superstition and a waste of money. But how do you know which treatments really heal and which are potentially harmful? Now at last you can find out, thanks to the formidable partnership of Professor Edzard Ernst and Simon Singh. Edzard Ernst is the world's first professor of complementary medicine, based at Exeter University, where he has spent over a decade analysing meticulously the evidence for and against alternative therapies.He is supported in his findings by Simon Singh, the well-known and highly respected science writer of several international bestsellers. Together they have written the definitive book on the subject. It is honest, impartial but hard-hitting, and provides a thorough examination and judgement of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic and herbal medicine.

In "Trick or Treatment?" the ultimate verdict on alternative medicine is delivered for the first time with clarity, scientific rigour and absolute authority.

Suckers reveals how alternative medicine can jeopardize the health of those it claims to treat, leaches resources from treatments of proven efficacy and is largely unaccountable and unregulated. In short, it is an industry that preys on human vulnerability and makes fools of us all.

In “The Cure Within,” her splendid history of mind-body medicine, Anne Harrington tries to explain why we draw connections between emotions and illness, and helps trace how today’s myriad alternative and complementary treatments came to be. A professor and chairman of the history of science department at Harvard, Harrington has produced a book that desperately needed to be written.

Snake Oil Science:

The Truth about Complementary

and Alternative Medicine

by R. Barker Bausell

Millions of people worldwide swear by such therapies as acupuncture, herbal cures, and homeopathic remedies. Indeed, complementary and alternative medicine is embraced by a broad spectrum of society, from ordinary people, to scientists and physicians, to celebrities such as Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey.

In the tradition of Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things and Robert Parks's Voodoo Science, Barker Bausell provides an engaging look at the scientific evidence for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and at the logical, psychological, and physiological pitfalls that lead otherwise intelligent people--including researchers, physicians, and therapists--to endorse these cures.

The book's ultimate goal is to reveal not whether these therapies work--as Bausell explains, most do work, although weakly and temporarily--but whether they work for the reasons their proponents believe. Indeed, as Bausell reveals, it is the placebo effect that accounts for most of the positive results.

He explores this remarkable phenomenon--the biological and chemical evidence for the placebo effect, how it works in the body, and why research on any therapy that does not factor in the placebo effect will inevitably produce false results. By contrast, as Bausell shows in an impressive survey of research from high-quality scientific journals and systematic reviews, studies employing credible placebo controls do not indicate positive effects for CAM therapies over and above those attributable to random chance.

Here is not only an entertaining critique of the strangely zealous world of CAM belief and practice, but it also a first-rate introduction to how to correctly interpret scientific research of any sort. Readers will come away with a solid understanding of good vs. bad research practice and a healthy skepticism of claims about the latest miracle cure, be it St. John's Wort for depression or acupuncture for chronic pain.

13 Year old Hodgkins Lymphoma patient Daniel Hauser

The desperate plea by the father of the Minnesota teenager who is on the run with his mother to avoid court-ordered cancer chemotherapy treatment has so far gone unanswered. Authorities said today that they are still working to locate Colleen Hauser and her 13-year-old son Daniel, who they believe may be in Mexico -- or trying to get there-- to seek alternative treatments for the teen who is suffering from Hodgkins Lymphoma.

FTC Sweep Stops Peddlers of Bogus Cancer Cures

Public Education Campaign Counsels Consumers, “Talk to Your Doctor”

The Federal Trade Commission today announced 11 law enforcement actions challenging deceptive advertising of bogus cancer cures. The FTC charged the companies with making unsupported claims that their products cured or treated one or more types of cancer. In each case, the company is charged with violating the FTC Act, which bars deceptive claims. Some complaints allege that the companies also falsely touted clinical or scientific proof for their products.

“There is no credible scientific evidence that any of the products marketed by these companies can prevent, cure, or treat cancer of any kind,” said Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Sagee Cancer 9405 scammers

This Chinese scammer was formerly prosecuted successfully in 2005 and 2006 by the U.S. FTC and told to stop advertising their bogus cancer treatments. So, what did they do? They placed ads in Healthy Decision, a Canadian magazine that supports questionable products. Why didn't the owners of this magazine know that the products were questionable and that the company had been prosecute㑨ņ

Biologie Totale scammers from Europe invade Canada and U.S.

Aribert Decker, an expert on the notorious criminal gang in Europe who flogs cures for many conditions, including cancer and multiple sclerosis, brought us links to a recent program on French CBC network. The English news was very short and gives you a flavour of what theses criminals are up to in Canada. They are also known as the German New Medicine.

Links to Biologie Totale and German New Medicine

Victims of New Medicine - Aribert Deckers - Since the invention of New Germanic Medicine by the german former physician Ryke Geerd Hamer, a large number of victims of his particular method are documented in trial documents, newspaper articles and have been reported by former patients and their relatives and also by former associates and nurses working in his practices or clinics. The total number of victims of this method in and outside Germany exceeds 140 (148 according to the Aribert Deckers - List at the beginning of 2008).

TV coverage

Radio Canada TV - extensive French language coverage. Aribert Decker stated, "After a year of preparation and investigations French Radio Canada now broadcasted on October 2, 2008 an "Enquête" report about "Biologie Totale", an insane, murderous "therapy" based on the insane, murderous "Germanische Neue Medizin" of insane criminal Ryke Geerd Hamer. Some of the European criminals try to escape to the USA, Canada, and some other countries. Beware!"

Project False Hope

FDA site

Fake Cancer Cures - Warning Letters have been sent to 23 U.S. companies and two foreign individuals marketing a wide range of products fraudulently claiming to prevent and cure cancer, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today. The FDA also warns North American consumers against using or purchasing the products, which include tablets, teas, tonics, black salves, and creams, and are sold under various names on the Internet.

Millions of Canadians are turning to the Internet for health-related information. Once online, they will often be exposed to unproven and downright fraudulent cures or treatments for their health problems that can cheat them of time, money, and most importantly, their health.

"Swindling people living with cancer is one of the most despicable forms of fraud," said Andrea Rosen, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Competition Bureau. "Consumers should be skeptical of health-related products or services that look too good to be true, and should always speak to a health care professional before trying any new treatment."

As part of Project False Hope, the Bureau has unveiled two interactive Web tools to educate consumers on how to recognize scams. Anatomy of an Online Health Scam is designed to teach you how to identify some of the tactics often used by scammers selling bogus cancer cures or treatments online. The Health Fraud Awareness Quiz tests your knowledge of scammers' tactics and teaches you how to avoid falling victim.

In addition to providing consumers with more information on how to protect themselves from fraudulent health claims, the Bureau uses a combination of Internet surveillance and adaptive investigative techniques to identify online scams. To date, 92 per cent of the identified sites have complied with the Bureau's demand to modify or remove the claims at issue, but many similar sites are still out there. The Bureau will take additional enforcement actions to obtain compliance from remaining sites as required.

March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada and around the world. As chair of the Fraud Prevention Forum, the Competition Bureau works with its partners to raise awareness among consumers and businesses about the dangers of fraud, by educating them on how to recognize it, report it and stop it.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency. We contribute to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.

Vitamin supplements and cancer

Vitamin Supplements Found Ineffective Against Lung Cancer - Feb. 29, 2008 - MedPage Today
The development of lung cancer appears to overwhelm any putative protective effects of prolonged use of vitamins C, E, and folate supplements. In other words, supplements don't work, and some of them may actually increase the cancer rate!

Homeopathic therapy by MDs

No Way to Treat the Dying by Jerry Adler - Newsweek - Feb 4, 2008
What price do you put on hope? Is $3,000 a week too much? Said Nedlouf faced that question when his wife, Mary, was diagnosed with an inoperable recurrence of breast cancer in the summer of 2006. It did not at first seem like too much to spend on "bioresonance therapy," "quadrant analysis" and "autosanguis" treatments by Dr. Jarir Nakouzi, a homeopathic physician in Bridgeport, Conn. Now, a year after his wife's death, Nedlouf thinks he made a bad deal.

"He sold us hope that wasn't there," says Nedlouf, who has filed a complaint against the doctor with the Connecticut Department of Public Health.

"There is, to my knowledge, no condition for which homeopathy has been proven to be an effective treatment."

Dr. Nakouzi is a medical doctor who is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, and according to the State's database has not had any history of malpractice. He was a resident in oncology for three years and then spent an additional two years residency in the 1980s studying homeopathy and biologic therapies in an Italian homeopathic hospital. Yes, that's right, an Italian homeopathic hospital.

Cancer testimonials

On the nature of "alternative" medicine cancer cure testimonials
Science Based Medicine Blog - David Gorski, MD
No doubt you’ve come across them before, either on the Internet, printed advertisements, or radio and TV ads: Alternative medicine cancer “testimonials.” They are the primary means by which “alternative” therapies for cancer (or just about any other disease) are promoted and the primary “evidence” that is used to “prove” the efficacy of non-evidence-based therapies. There’s no doubt that they sure can sound convincing.

Infused with fervor, the patient now wants to spread the word. Often, the patient is now selling the remedy. Perhaps you’ve seen such testimonials or heard them on the radio and thought: “Gee, this sounds great. I wonder if it works.”

The answer is: Almost certainly not!

Boiled down to the essence, these testimonials usually appear convincing for one of these reasons:

1. The patient never had cancer to begin with. It was either an erroneous diagnosis by a legitimate doctor or a diagnosis based on an unscientific and unvalidated test used by the alt-med practitioner. This is more common than one might think (one example is pancreatic cancer), and I may do a post on this issue in the future.

2. The patient underwent partial conventional therapy before abandoning it for alt-med (for example, an excision but no radiation or chemotherapy, like Suzanne Somers or Lorraine Day).

3. The patient still has cancer but, like Kim Tinkham, has been told by her practitioner that she is “cancer-free.” If the tumor is slow-growing, this may be convincing for many months or even a few years.

-->You have the opportunity to participate by leaving comments for Dr. Gorski.

Real Quack Testimonials

Hulda Clark's testimonials - She is one of the most outstanding examples of the worst in cancer quackery. She has no medical qualifications, has a mailorder naturopathic degree, works in Tijuana, Mexico, and her publicist was Tim Bolen. More on Hulda Clark. More on Tim Bolen.

Devgan runs banners on his web site for the Carnivora, a banned quack cancer product. In addition, Devgan displays the official logos of PubMed, the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and of course the Moss Reports. He says he has, but does not list his Mexican cancer centres on his web site. I guess that once you've depleted your purse, and taken out a second mortgage on your house, it's about time to go to Tijuana.

If your cancer demonstrates that it has a deranged electron transfer system, try POLY-MVA in this 1999 archive. It comes with the recommendations of some of the world's greatest cancer clinics in Tijuana. Pity for us up here in Canada.

Rachel Stoutt - Ravi's turn here, too. In case you're interested, Ravi also does a job putting tube in the chest of a ten year old child who is involved in an international court battles over whether or not surgery should be done for ulcerative colitis (often associated with colon cancer).

Hulda Clark robs Tijuana woman of chance to survive deadly cancer!

Alternative Cancer Treatment Video from Fox News Morning Show with Mike and Juliet

Is the medical establishment wrong about cancer? M&J took a look at alternative treatments that advocates say may save your life … but critics warn could kill you!

Dr. Stephen Barrett, and others appear in this clip from part of the show. Patricia Chavez (see below) attacks the treatment delivered at Hulda Clark's quack cancer clinic. But, somebody at Fox decided that it would be unwise to mention the name of the clinic, or Hulda Clark.

How Hulda Clark Victimized My Parents

The daughter of a deceased cancer patient has written a vivid account of her mother's experience with Hulda Clark, the unlicensed naturopath whose book Cure for All Cancers states that all cancers can be cured within 5 days. Shortly after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a bone cancer), the mother refused standard treatment and went to Clark's Mexican clinic instead. The article describes how, after more than a month, Clark pronounced that the mother was cured and advised her not to get an MRI because because even though her malignancy had been killed it would take time for the tumor to reduce in size. Several weeks later, an MRI showed that during Clark's treatment, the tumor grew to two-and-a-half times its initial size.

"I strongly believe that if she had not undergone Clark's treatment and had sought treatment from a real doctor from the beginning, she would be probably be alive today. Clark robbed my mother of any real chance of survival. She is absolute and total fraud. She told my mother she was cured? Yes, cured and that her malignancy was gone. Now, my mother is dead.

I find it frightening that despite of all of Hulda Clark's legal troubles, she has been allowed to continue to treat patients for many years. I am absolutely appalled that she has affected so many lives and continues to do so. She preys on people's desperation and fears. Hulda's treatment is cruel and inhumane. Extractions, cavitation scrapings, horrid living conditions in a cheap motel, and the list goes on. Something needs to be done to stop her from doing this to other people."

Dr. Hope exposed on CTV's W-FIVE

The long awaited exposé of Canadian Cancer Research Group, one of Canada's most notorious unregulated cancer clinics has uncovered the undeniable truth. They don't have any cures for cancer, and they haven't done any research. Plus throw in a little side trip to one of California's quack cancer conventions, a peek inside a few dumpy cancer clinics in Tijuana and watch the archived footage of the Mexican Army carting off Hulda Clark a few years ago, and you have the makings of an award winning show. And CTV makes it easy for everyone to watch it around the world.

But most of the show is about Bill O'Neill and the people who have fallen victim to his deception. Mark my word, but this would appear to be a great opportunity for someone to finally be forced into taking action. We can only hope.

Part 1 - A visit to a California cancer show where you can see chiropractors giving people the "activator" treatment, a traditional Chinese medicine man and all sorts of impossible cures. Then a tour of Tijuana cancer clinics, and finally take a look at Dr. Hulda Clark being removed from her clinic by the Mexican Army. But, that's another story.

Part 2 - When Frank Bagyan, from Newburgh, Ontario arrived on Bill O'Neill's doorstep he promised that he would get rid of his huge brain tumour. One week before he died O'Neill told Frank that his cancer was melting away.

Part 3 - Brief profile of the people who own and run the CCRG, and their bogus methods. More victims, including a woman who was an Ontario Provincial Police officer who refused standard therapy for sarcoidosis (this is not cancer). Six months later she died.

Part 4 - Victims have no recourse - Ask Pat McDougall why he sang a song to Kathleen, his comatose daughter. Why did the government and the medical regulators ignore his pleas for an investigation? And finally, Dr. Hope brings in two ringers who claim that they are still alive, thanks to his treatment. Then Bill sits down in front of the camera, and asks for the "next question". Oh, he does the "all the documents are forgeries" bit of course. And yes there are "legal" and "criminal" proceedings underway. He denies that he ever told people that he hasn't lost a cancer patient, or that he has an 80% success rate for some cancers. Yeah right!!! Hey, here's a good one, he told a patient that it would be more therapeutic to drink cold beer instead of the standard treatment!

In case you need reminding about some of Bill O'Neill's activities just check out the following sites.

Phone threats made to Dr. Terry Polevoy

June 29, 2000 - .mp3 file. Mr. O'Neill wanted to call in his lawyers and the cops to my London office. I am still waiting.

September 14, 2004 - .mp3 file. When CTV visited his office to do the interview for W-FIVE in 2005, I wonder if he was able to hold his temper. Why would a man referred to as Dr. Hope, who always seems to be in control of his faculties before the cameras become a vile and uncontrolled Mr. Hyde on my answering machine? One wonders if perhaps something was making him a wee bit angry at the time. His many internet disguises, as you will see below, are an outlet for his internet rage. We don't know what triggers these tantrums, but perhaps he had just had his life torn apart by another outraged relative who had just lost their loved one to his nutraceutical web of deception.

Kurt Donsbach in the news

FBI San Diego office press release - April 9, 2009>dir>
Finally, after years of following this snake-oil salesman, he was was arrested and charged for practicing medicine without a license and supplying patients with supplements containing non-FDA-approved drugs. An investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and District Attorney’s Office led to the arrest. Kurt Walter Donsbach, 73, of Bonita, is charged with 11 felony counts including treating patients without a license, misbranding drugs for sale, grand theft, unlawfully dispensing drugs as a cure for cancer and falsely representing a cure for cancer. If convicted, he faces up to six years in state prison.

Donsbach was arrested during his internet radio broadcast and booked into the San Diego County jail on $1,500,000 bail.

New Hospital in Tijuana linked to Donsbach

TIJUANA – For the second time in two years, Baja California health authorities Tuesday shut down an alternative health clinic that provided unorthodox treatments to mostly gravely ill U.S. patients.

Donsbach, who has a 1996 felony conviction for tax evasion and smuggling illegal medicines across the border, has no medical degree and isn't licensed to practice medicine in Mexico or the United States.

Carlos Negrete, Donsbach's attorney, said his client is a “nutritional consultant” and doesn't treat patients. He acknowledged that Mexican officials have “temporarily interrupted” clinic operations and said the clinic is challenging the closure in the Mexican court system.

“Cross-border clinics have been problematical for years, and they seem to keep rising from the dead,” said Dr. Robert Baratz, acting president of the Massachusetts-based National Council Against Health Fraud. “Every time you think they've been stopped from doing these shenanigans, they reincarnate with a new name and new front people, but usually the same people behind them.”

Carlos Negrete, Donsbach's attorney in California, has represented many disreputable characters over the years including Tim Bolen and Hulda Clark. For just a taste of what this legal eagle has done:

Doctor scrutinized for stem-cell treatment - Negrete defends California medical doctor, David Steenblock, 64 who has been accused by the state of failing to cooperate with an investigation into an experimental stem cell treatment for a child. Here are comments by Negrete:
"We believe the charges are politically motivated," Negrete said, adding that Steenblock had filed a discrimination lawsuit against state medical regulators."

Peter Bowditch's opinion about Carlos Negrete and Tim Bolen - This site is an enormous resource for opinion and facts about the two of them. Don't forget to watch the video of Tim Bolen with Negrete in the background coaching him. Here's is what Peter had to say:"Carlos Negrete who has forgotten so much of the law he learned in school that he felt compelled to refer to me as a "bottom feeding parasite" when discussing a law suit against me. PB"

Libel-Defamation Blog on NegreteIn reversing the lower court decision (see below), the Appeals Court used these words to describe their reasons why the original court should go to trial:

"..the scurrilous nature of the defendants' allegations of wrongdoing and their efforts to publicize them widely on the Internet, when coupled with their utter failure to offer any proof of their charges"

Penni Crabtree has been tracking the Tijuana scammers for years. This article that appeared in the San Diego Union Tribune on September 9, 2007 must have triggered a major wakeup call down in Mexico. It only took a few days before the hombres in charge of things closed him down again. Here it is:

An alternative health clinic that was shut down last year by Baja state health officials after it was linked to the death of Coretta Scott King has quietly reopened and may be operating illegally. Many of the patients at the Mexican clinic are being treated for serious ailments, including advanced cancer, according to patients and patients' family members.

[It is deeply disturbing to me to see that Donsbach's interests are being represented by none other than Carlos Negrete. He's the lawyer who has defended others who run clinics in Tijuana, such as Hulda Clark. Those of you who have knowledge about the operations of the clinic can contact the author. Links are on the web site.]

Coretta Scott King and her fatal trip to his clinic in Tijuana

Battling advanced ovarian cancer, Coretta Scott King joined a long list of desperate people to seek out questionable alternative medical therapies south of the border in Baja California. One of the most notorious "clinics" is run by a delicensed California chiropractor named Kurt Donsbach. He has had a long and controversial career promoting treatments that many medical and health-fraud experts consider useless or unproven. His clinic's Web site touts such therapies as microwave energy for “heating” cancer cells, and anti-cancer nutritional supplements formulated by Donsbach.
Though the clinic's Web site refers to Donsbach as “Dr.” and says he has “successfully treated thousands of critically ill patients,” it fails to mention that Donsbach has no medical degree. Nor does the Web site cite Donsbach's conviction in 1996 for federal tax evasion and smuggling illegal medicines across the border.
Why would Coretta Scott King's family want her treated by a criminal like that?

The problem with the author is that she failed miserably to check her facts about anything questionable. There are so many errors in the piece that a high school newspaper editor would have been able to point them out to a blind person.

She failed to mention that Fred Hui backed infamous Italian doctor Luigi DiBella in his outrageous claim that he could cure cancer.

She failed to mention that Kurt Donsbach is a notorious liar, crook, and has trained others to do the same with disastrous results for some people.

She promoted a clinic in Mexico by putting its web site in a prominent position in her article

She failed to provide bala୼Ņe h aicle

Did she talk to Dr. Hui's patient who he claims went to Mexico and is doing well?

Did she speak to anyone else who has been to the Donsbach clinic?

Mixed reaction to Hunter's search for cure - Toronto Star - January 28, 2005. Judy Steed's second article about Hospital Santa Monica and Kurt Donsbach fails miserably to tell the story.
But, after all, she is a Life Section reporter and should be trusted. And don't forget, it's really a "human interest story". She's not an investigative journalist. So much for common sense. Steed again failed the challenge and responsibility to tell all about Donsbach and his money-making schemes both in the U.S. and now in his place of exile, Mexico. It's about time for The Star to award her with a one-way ticket for an adjustment at Dr. Donsbach quack clinic. And by the way, he started out his professional life as a chiropractor, just in case she needs more encouragement. Someone needs to straighten her out anyway.

Bob Hunter answers questions about his prostate cancer on CITY-TV board - January 26, 2005
"I have known since 1999 that I had prostate cancer. From the start I rejected my Urologist's blunt -- I would say primitive -- instruction: operate immediately. Side effects? I asked. Oh, a 70 per cent chance of incontenence and/or impotence. I decided to look around for alternatives. I contacted another Urologist, he indicated I had time to investigate other options. I tried everything from acupuncture, PC SPES, naturopathic diet, Essiac, Vitamin C drip and hormonal blockers and eventually settled on 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiation, which used laser beams to guide a precision hit of high-dose radiation to the tumourous part of the prostate. It was a six-week daily treatment. For a while, it seemed to work. The tumour shrank. But a lttle over a year later, a test revealed my PSA numbers had soared way past the safe limit of 7. I was up around 20. I had been told there were two fall-back positions if the 3-D radiation didn't work, but when I eventually got appointments with the specialists involved I was to be told I didn't qualify for either treatment. Much frustration. My Radiologist sent me to a new Oncologist who gave me two years to live. I tried another Oncologist at another major hospital. He offered a new low-doseage kind of chemotherapy that didn't produce the usual symptoms -- nausea and hair-loss. There was a catch. The deal with the phramacutical company involved in pedalling this new wonder drug hadn't been settled yet. Wait for it . I did -- only to be told: Forget it, the drug doesn't work. Go back to the original hospital to see if there was any new treatment available with the first Oncologist. In September 2003, during a trip to Vancouver, I was hit by my first bone pain attack. The only solution was a morphine injection. And another. And another. I ended up taking morphine pills every three to four hours to fend it off. I lost 30 pounds. I was too nauseous to eat, too psychological agitated to think straight. I became supremely indifferent emotionally to my loved ones, to anyone. My wife finally took me to the emergency ward and demanded that they get me off the morphine, which they finally did, putting me on a milder derivative of morphine, which worked for a couple of months, until I suddenly developed a tolerance for it. The only solution now was to up the dosage. Declared my oncologist in November, 2003 : You're down to six months. By Dec 2003, my numbers had reached 620 -- that's right. And anything above 10 is deadly. Worse, the cancer had metastasized to the ribs, spine and pelvis. It was everywhere, so much so there was no one place to attack it with spot radiation. My Oncologist states "all I can do is give you morphine based pain medicine and the latest prostrate cancer chemo drug, taxotere. You'll gain 2.3 extra months." I was about to go for it -- the first chemotherapy appointment was set for noon on Monday, Dec 6th . I settled my affairs went on a trip with my wife and best friends for a week . The night before leaving for St Lucia on our last vacation, at 11 p.m. that night, I got a phone call from Dr. Fred Hui, who warned me that once I started on the chemo, my condition would be irreversible. What I should do, instead, is go down to Dr. Kurt Donsbach's clinic near Tijuana, and try his potent mix of "alternative" anti-cancer therapies. Why in Mexico? Because Canada, following the American lead, screens out a whole class of therapies in favour of products flogged by the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry. So down to Mexico I flew. By this time I was back to munching morphine pills like candy to hold back the agony. My PSA numbers had reached 720 as I entered the Mexican hospital. After three and a half weeks' treatment at Donsbach's hospital, my PSA was down to 480, and the measure of the cancer in my bones was down from 1100 to 62, well within normal. The symptom of the cancer's advance -- pain -- was gone completely. I was off the morphine, with no pain-killing substitutes. The battle wouldn't be won until my PSA reached near-zero, and even then, I would still have the cancer. It would just be held down. For how long? Maybe five years, maybe 10, was the answer. That looked a lot better to me than mere months to live. Back home, I am on a strict diet and supplement regime, and I am to be monitored monthly to see if the PSA continues to drop. Awaiting results. Fingers, toes and ears crossed."

~ Bob Hunter, Citytv

Complaints filed with The Star

Donsbach Supporters

Quacks on Quacks - Wellness Directory of Minnesota "As we were preparing to ship off this edition of our newsletter, ABC's Prime Time Thursday did an exposé of "Alternative Cancer Therapies," a new low point in journalism. We know modern American medicine is running scared to lower the bar—this low.
Prime Time focused in on a lot of the scams occurring across the border in Mexico. Yes, there are quacks who offer false hope. The show was laughable.

They attacked one of the pioneers of this alternative movement Dr Donsbach, a chiropractor. Yes, he is a character, blows his own horn, and is a bit off center, but his heart in the right place. He refused to chat with Prime Time. I personally interviewed one who had reversed her MS while there at his clinic, and another who got over her lupus. For all I know Dr Donsbach might be utterly insane and mentally incompetent. They attacked Donsbach for telling the truth:

"There has been no appreciable, demonstrable help from chemotherapy since its inception."

Links to Kurt Donsbach

Borderline medicine - TIJUANA ALTERNATIVE CLINICS FRUSTRATE REGULATORS
Penni Crabtree and Sandra Dibble
The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego, Calif.: Feb 24, 2002
Donsbach has no medical degree and that Baja California health officials say he doesn't have a license to practice medicine in their state. The former Bonita chiropractor has a long history of involvement with health-care schemes in the United States, and was convicted in 1996 for federal tax evasion and smuggling illegal medicines across the border.

Unconventional cancer treatments - Adobe .pdf file - 38 pages. Search for Donsbach and note the reference to the cease and desist order by U.S. Postal service that made Donsbach stop claiming any benefits for hydrogen peroxide way back in 1988

Unhealthy Alliance - by Stephen Barrett, MD
American Council on Science and Health Special Report:
One of the most complete descriptions of Donsbach ever produced. This is a must read for every reporter. To have missed this essay is unbelievable.

Support HealthWatcher.net

If you would like to support our efforts to combat quackery, health and diet fraud we make it easy for you to donate to the cause.

Boca company accused of false advertising

Prosecutors asked a judge this week to issue an injunction and restraining
order to halt the sale of products that were allegedly falsely advertised
online as federally approved medicines for cancer, migraines and the flu.

Flu Fighter Laboratories Inc. maintains websites -- cancercure.org, migrainecure.org and flufighter.net -- that promote drugs claiming to be FDA-approved cures for the flu, migraines and various kinds of cancer.
The websites identify the FDA as the "Fighting Diseases Association, Inc."

DCA - unapproved treatment for cancer?

Edmonton Journal articles by Jodie Sinnema

Jodie Sinnema, the Edmonton Journal's medical reporter has been covering this story since the beginning. Her articles have been circulated by Canada.com and discussed in many other papers. She's allowed others to comment as well. It's nice to see a major Alberta newspaper spend so much time on this vital story for a change.

More news reports on DCA

Dr. Akbar Khan of Medicor Cancer Centre - May 28, 2007 - .wma file
The Dave Rutherford show was broadcast on Edmonton's CHED and other affiliated stations across Canada. The actual interview starts at about 9 minutes into the show.
Dr. Akbar Khan from Medicor said he wasn't actually doing research. Here are a few of his statements:

Only 10 of his patients have been put on DCA.

A compounding pharmacist mixes it when it gets to Canada. He didn't mention the name of the pharmacist.

He refused to reveal where he's actually getting it from.

His DCA is made in the U.S. and it is pharmaceutical grade.

He said that he has fulfilled requirements and got Health Canada's approval to import it.

Ontario regulations has allowed him to use the DCA. (Ontario laws do not regulate the importation of drugs into this country, but he said that the College of Pharmacists allows compounding pharmacists to do anything they want.)

His patients have shown benefits or improvement, including tumour shrinkage. He's stunned and shocked over the benefits that he's seen.

My comments:

Why is this MD allowed to use DCA in Ontario?

He has not obtained permission to do approved clinical trials, and neither has anyone else in Canada.

Health Canada says that nobody can sell it in Canada. So why does Khan say that Health Canada says that he can import it?

He is selling it as a "compounded" medicine. Is he breaking the law?

Rutherford received a letter from Health Canada. What did it say, and who sent it to him?

The University of Alberta researcher refused to be interviewed by the Globe and Mail for this story. Additionally, no mention was made of the medical doctor in Toronto who says that he will sell DCA to his patients.

"TheDCAsite.com – that was established by Jim Tassano, a California man who owns a pest-control company. Mr. Tassano wanted to help a favourite ballroom-dancing instructor, who was dying of cancer. It has become an online community, its members united by the hope that DCA will save their lives or someone they love."

"Mr. Tassano has started a second website, BuyDCA.com, where he sells the drugs that he and a chemist friend synthesize themselves, which he says is a simple process."

"Helping cancer patients treat themselves with DCA clearly wasn't what Dr. Michelakis had in mind when he filed the patent, or when he published his results in January in the medical journal Cancer Cell."

Catastrophic risks

What could go wrong?

"Dr. Michelakis and his colleagues have warned that DCA ordered over the Internet may contain dangerous impurities. It is often sold in a highly acidic form that could cause “catastrophic” complications, they explain on the university's own DCA website, www.depmed.ualberta.ca/dca."

"It might interact with other anti-cancer drugs, he has said, and may cause severe nerve damage. People might lose their ability to walk, or speak."

Today, the Medicor Cancer private, fee-for-service clinic is opening in Toronto. Patients have to pay $2,500 to sign up for the health care service, and pay $1,200 a month in ongoing membership fees.

Discussion in Ontario Legislature on Medicor's opening - May 2006 (Search text for Medicor)Mr. Hampton: The McGuinty government says it stands for medicare. We're asking the McGuinty government to finally take some steps to prevent two-tier health care, something you are so obviously reluctant to do.

Medicor says, "We also explore options for treatments -- not routinely available to you -- and will coordinate such care if you wish." In other words, those who can pay extra will get preferential access to medical services. Paying your way to the front of the line contradicts the Canada Health Act. Paying for intake services and medical records and turning away patients who can't or won't pay block fees are also illegal under Ontario law and Canadian law. The question is, is the McGuinty government simply going to lecture people or are you actually going to do something to prevent two-tier health care in Ontario?

Clinical Trial Applications in Canada

This section if from the McMaster University web site, but the information here is applicable across Canada.

In order for any health practitioner to use any new medical treatment that involves chemical products or pharmaceutical they must apply for a CTA - Clinical Trial Application. Anyone in medicine knows that, and anyone who refuses to comply with this should not be practicing medicine in this country.

Any medical doctor who has not applied for, or who is not qualified to make an application to market products like DCA should be stopped by Health Canada from importing any product into this country. Furthermore, any medical doctor who uses DCA on patients at any time should be reported to their respective regulatory bodies in Canada.

Applying to Health Canada: Clinical Trial Applications (CTA)The Food and Drug Regulations provide authority to the Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) of Health Canada to regulate the sale of drugs for the purposes of use in human clinical trials. Division 5 of the Regulations defines specific Clinical Trial Application (CTA) requirements and prescribes a 30-day default review period for these applications. Amendments to Division 5 were announced in June 2001 and took effect September 1, 2001.

Sponsors must file applications to conduct clinical trials in Phases I through III of drug development. This includes applications to conduct clinical trials involving marketed products where the proposed use of the product is outside the parameters of the approved Notice of Compliance (NOC) or Drug Identification Number (DIN) application, e.g. one or more of the following is different:

More coverage of DCA

Molecular Menace - National Review of Medicine
Quacks pervert U of A doc's discovery
Desperate cancer patients clamour for untested DCA "cure" as Internet drug pedlars hijack Alberta researcher's anti-cancer molecule. Dr Evangelos Michelakis is living every researcher's worst nightmare.
The therapy he painstakingly studied, verified and re-verified, has been hijacked and risks harming the very people it wasꌠŊea the.

Cancer therapy: When all else fails - New Scientist - March 28, 2007
A Canadian researcher from the University of Alberta published a study that used DCA in rats, and this has sparked an underground industry in the unapproved chemical. This article is a review of these developments. Links to other sites and opinions.

DCA crankery - A resource for countering denialist organizations, tactics and arguments. Don't Confuse Denialism with Debate!
One study of a model of cancer in "nude" athymic rats, animals that have no immune system so that human tumor lines can be studied inside an organism, and people are rushing to take this stuff.

Support HealthWatcher.net

California quacks prey on terminally ill

Using the Internet and word-of-mouth to promote their services — and nuggets of science to defend their treatments — these peddlers of unproven cures offer hope to desperately sick people in imaginative new ways.

Erica and Clive McLean turned to alternative therapy to beat his cancer, but he died. Still, it’s a practice gaining widespread acceptance.

Shari Roan
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

This article describes in great detail the experiences of the McLean family with one particular clinic in Studio City, California. One of the characters in the story is a "biochemist" named David Chuah. We found a link in a cached version of the Nutrikon web site for Chuah. The present Nutrikon web site lists a number of very strange methods of treatment, but does not list Chuah. Dr. Charles E. Law, Jr. MD, FACEP runs the clinic and he is an emergency room physician. He holds a license to practice in California, but he has also been disciplined in that State.
I was able to locate a listing for a Charles E. Law, Jr. on a web site that identified him as a Scientologist. We are in the process of obtaining the California Medical Board report on Dr. Law.

Feds investigate anti-cancer paste

Pastor-turned-healer markets flesh-eating remedy

ROCHELLE, Georgia (AP) -- Curtis Brown carries business cards with old pictures of his tumors, including an egg-sized growth on his neck. He says they were each shed after the application of a flesh-eating paste containing the medicinal herb bloodroot.

"I cured myself of cancer," the cards read.

Georgia's medical board and the Food and Drug Administration don't share Brown's enthusiasm for the paste. The state board of medicine has accused its maker, Dan Raber, a pastor-turned-healer, of practicing medicine without a license. FDA agents recently raided Raber's business, and a doctor, Lois March, MD could lose her medical license for allegedly knowing Raber was giving people the paste -- not approved for the treatment of cancer -- and not reporting him.

The Adam Factor

Distance healing - The teenager, the astronaut and the rocker

When a teenage boy named Adam extended his distance healing to Rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins, who claimed to be dying of pancreatic cancer, the world flocked to his door. Why is his identity a closely guarded secret? Is it because he's just a young high school student from Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada who doesn't want to be swarmed by remote healing groopies? Or is it because his family is sitting on a goldmine. After all it seems that someone has been running the internet show since 2000, and they sit on an empire that includes workshops in exclusive waterfront hotels for $99 a pop, book sales, and get this, they bill your credit card or PayPal roughtly $75 for each and probably every phone contact you make during one of his alleged remote healing sessions. Why he can even do it without the phone, just send him a colour photo and he can use his magical holographic powers to conjure up a cure. I don't think he gives rebates if it doesn't work.

Whatever you feel about this boy's "powers", in my opinion and that of others, he is not what he claims to be at all. These opinions are based on science and common sense, not some supernatural mumbo-jumbo often used by fake faith healers that are too numerous to mention. Adam and his family along with their publicity brigade of true believers in the press represent nothing more than a giant scam with sympathetic news organizations and film producers who are in it for a buck. The bottom line is that faith healers, even if in this particular case is based only on holographic images and quantum physics (something that can't be proved or supported), are some of the worst kind of health fraud artists.

How can Adam prove that he has unique paranormal healing powers?

That's easy. The James Randi Educational Foundation has extended theirOne Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge to anyone who can demonstrate unusual psychic or healing powers. Will Adam and his family take up the challenge? If not, HealthWatcher has some interesting questions and a few suggestions for the public and the media who seem to be ignoring reality.

ABC's John Quiñones true believer?

For nearly 30 years, millions have visited the tiny village of Abadiania in remote, central Brazil to see a man some call the most powerful spiritual healer since Jesus and others call a charlatan.
"Primetime" followed the journeys of five people who sought out the man known as "João de Deus" — "John of God" — and took a closer look at the amazing claims that surround him.

James Randi's amazing response to the program - His SWIFT newsletter says it all, and includes posts to ABC News and heartfelt comments made by his readers.
I was shocked at the criminal reporting on the show "John of God." Was it just an unpaid ad for the man and his greed? My heart just broke to see those people. What has happened to responsible reporting? I would think a network like ABC would try to protect the public, not harm them. How many people are giving up their chemotherapy or delaying it to go to Brazil first?

Australia's Peter Bowditch's call for action - as always his opinion counts.
My initial impression when I was first approached was that the woman might have had cancer and was falsely attributing a miracle cure to the faith healer when it was really due to conventional treatment or even remission, although the probability of that is remote. I now think that she was simply lying and is part of the promotion for the scam. At least one of the Australians supposedly "healed" by John of God is openly promoting tours to Brazil. These people are just as disgusting as the charlatans who pretend to perform the miracles. They steal money from desperate people and dress it up as religion so that any criticism can be seen to be an attack on faith. The only thing these people have faith in is money.

Internet infidels discussion forumA girl with breast cancer still has breast cancer, hallelujah! The woman who can't walk still can't walk, hallelujah! The guy with a tumor in his brain still has a tumor in his brain (but it got smaller), hallelujah! The guy that has lou gehrigs still has lou gehrigs, hallelujah! Behold the power of god!!

The Amazing Cures of a Brazilian Miracle Man - Nexus Magazine - February - March 1998
A gifted spirit medium, João de Deus incorporates spirit entities who perform physical surgery and psychic healing through him with miraculous results. Author Robert Pellegrino-Estrich conducts regular tours to Abadiânia, Brazil. For tour details and further information on the House of Dom Inácio, contact the author: Telephone number in Australia is 0411 8111 33 and for Brazil is +55 62 343 1035.

Support HealthWatcher.net

If you would like to support our efforts to combat quackery, health and diet fraud we make it easy for you to donate to the cause.

Fake PhD and friend prey on cancer patients in Waterloo, Ontario

The advertisement at the left appeared on page 426 of the latest edition of the Yellow Pages for Kitchener-Waterloo. I was shocked to say the least. We are about one hour west of Toronto, and we recently celebrated the grand opening of our new Grand River Cancer Centre. But, when that happened it seems that the gates were sprung open for yet another cancer quack to open their doors for business. The woman in the ad never earned a real PhD, and the Centre is not licensed to treat cancer patients in any manner. But, they have opened their doors and their intention, the way I see it is to do their best to recruit young cancer patients and their families.
They then sell them nutritional supplements which they claim will alleviate their cancer. Oh, sometimes they say that they provide their wares for free. But, what does that mean? If the products are unproved, or potentially harmful, don't they owe it to their customers to tell the truth? What about their qualifications?

Click here to see the entire scam and how Dave Wickware led the family of a three-year old little girl with a terminal brain tumor down the alternative medical path. There were fund raisers with local groups, articles in the paper and a vicious attack on Dr. Terry Polevoy surrounding this tragedy. The bottom line is that Dave Wickware will most likely end up in court at the nasty end of a lawsuit for defamation.

Are 'Alternatives' Good Medicine?

Plug the terms "alternative" and "cancer" into Google and the Internet search engine returns a list of 3.4 million -- yes, million -- sites with information both credible and questionable about nontraditional treatments for cancer. What's a cancer patient to make of such a vast array of options?

Doctors also need to know which therapies are bogus and potentially dangerous -- treatments typically considered "alternative" because patients may use them instead of scientifically studied treatments.

U.S. District Judge Issues Permanent Injunction Against Lane Labs-USA, Inc. and Orders Firm to Refund Money to Purchasers of Illegally Marketed Unapproved Drugs

Quack cancer and AIDs drugs banned - FDA - July 13, 2004
The Food and Drug Administration today announced that Judge William G. Bassler of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, has found that three products sold by Lane Labs-USA, Inc. and its president Andrew J. Lane (the defendants) as dietary supplements and a cosmetic - Benefin, MGN-3 and SkinAnswer - are, in fact, unapproved new drugs under federal law because they were being marketed as treatments for cancer, HIV, and skin cancer without FDA approval. In addition, Judge Bassler permanently enjoined the defendants from distributing BeneFin, MGN-3, and SkinAnswer unless the products are first either approved for marketing by FDA or distributed pursuant to an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for purposes of conducting a clinical trial. Judge Bassler also ordered the defendants to pay restitution to all purchasers of BeneFin, MGN-3, and SkinAnswer since September 22, 1999.

Prince Charles and support of cancer quackery

An open letter to the Prince of Wales: with respect, your highness, you've got it wrong - BMJ - July 10, 2004
Michael Baum, professor emeritus of surgery and visiting professor of medical humanities
University College London
Twenty years ago, on the 150th anniversary of the BMA, you were appointed its president and used your position to admonish my profession for its complacency. You also used this platform to promote "alternative" medicine. Over the past 20 years I have treated thousands of patients with cancer and lost some dear friends and relatives along the way to this dreaded disease. The power of my authority comes with a knowledge built on 40 years of study and 25 years of active involvement in cancer research.
Your power and authority rest on an accident of birth.
Last week I had a sense of déjà vu, when the Observer (27 June) and Daily Express (28 June) newspapers reported you promoting coffee enemas and carrot juice for cancer. I have much time for complementary therapy that offers improvements in quality of life or spiritual solace, providing that it is truly integrated with modern medicine, but I have no time at all for "alternative" therapy that places itself above the laws of evidence and practises in a metaphysical domain that harks back to the dark days of Galen.

Deathbed Conversions by Tom Morris

...last year Prince "the defender of faith" Charles called for greater investment in alternative medicine and health practices including homeopathy. The government listened and invested £1.3m of taxpayers money on alternative medicine. What's the point? None that I can see. Universities are now teaching degree courses on some of these junk medicines. By extension, tax subsidises students who take these courses. In many nursing and medicine courses, alternative medicine is now being offered as a module. The British Medical Journal and other academic and practitioners journals are publishing articles on alternative medicine.

Imagine if accountants decided to start offering 'complementary' accounting. Okay, Arthur Anderson offered that one to Enron - bad example. Imagine if there was 'holistic' legal advocacy or 'alternative' plumbing. Why, then, in medicine do so many people fall for it?

Just imagine if that £100m plus that the public spend on non-working medicine went to pay for traditional medicine, plus the £1.3m that the government have just thrown at researchers to look in to these claims on the people who are actually researching real medicine, then I wouldn't be surprised if we could find cures for many of the diseases that afflict thousands of people. I expect that £100m is only the tip of a huge iceberg. All around the world people fall for the nonsense peddled by psychic healers (that's fun another phrase to look up on Google - especially if you include 'stick-on rubber finger', 'chicken liver' and 'fake blood' in your query), reiki, crystal healing, shark cartilage and urine therapy (you may kid, but there are people out there who think that drinking one's own urine can help almost any disease you can think of - from the cancers and AIDS of the world through to snake bites and hangovers - suffice to say, it's ineffective, at best, and has numerous side effects, at worst).

Sure, it's fun to poke at people like....Prince Charles for being pulled in by quacks and con artists. But that's not what worries me. What worries me is the hard-working, ordinary people out there who are being taken for suckers and sometimes being hurt, even killed, in the process.

Supreme Greens - supremely fraudulentIn June 2004, the FTC filed charges against Donald Barrett, DMC, and ITV, along with their business partners, alleging that they deceptively marketed Supreme Greens to consumers through a widely aired infomercial, claiming that the product can cure, treat, or prevent cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. Barrett, Direct Marketing Concepts, Inc. (DMC) and ITV Direct, Inc. (ITV), are part of the FTC's case alleging that defendants deceptively marketed their dietary supplement product, Supreme Greens with MSM. A U.S. District Court judge found that the FTC has demonstrated that they likely made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims in an infomercial promoting Supreme Greens and that they likely made unauthorized charges to consumers' credit or debit cards. The preliminary injunction - which prohibits the challenged disease claims and any asset dissipation - will remain in effect pending the outcome of a trial on the FTC's allegations.

Info-Merlin - North Shore Sunday from January 2004 - Dinah Cardin
He may be a college dropout, but 29-year-old infomercial magnate Donald Barrett of Beverly seems to have the magic touch. Just ask his bank book.
To have a conversation with Donald Barrett as he sits behind his desk, one has to see past a heavy silver award that says "Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail."

Many have already heard about the Saugus native's fast fortune. Barrett can make money in his sleep, he laughs, because his face can be seen on a TV infomercial somewhere in this country every half hour, and the call center in Beverly's Cummings Center is open for calls seven days a week, 'round the clock. While the industry averages a 20 to 30 percent closing rate and $60 per sale, ITV Direct more than doubles those numbers.

Doctor who planned 'Cancer Cell Terminator' ordered to quit practice

Bob Jerrolds - fake naturopath treats cancer patients - Chicago Sun-Times - July 6, 2004
A Lockport man who describes himself as a doctor and
advertises on his Web sites that he offers a cure for
cancer and affordable health care for all has been
ordered to stop practicing medicine without a medical
license.
In April, the state Department of Finance and
Professional Regulation wrote to Bob Jerrolds, who
refers to himself as "Dr. Jerrolds," asking him to
prove he shouldn't be disciplined for "holding
yourself out to treat human ailments including cancer,
while not being a licensed physician in the state of
Illinois."
Subsequently, Fernando Grillo, director of the state
agency, issued an order that said, in part:

"It is therefore ordered that Robert Jerrolds immediately cease and desist the practice of medicine which includes, but is not limited to, treating human ailments including cancer in the State of Illinois."

Geronimo Rubio - Tijuana cancer quack busted

The operators of a Tijuana clinic that promotes alternative cures for seriously ill Americans were arrested yesterday at their Bonita offices following an indictment on charges of insurance and tax fraud.
Agents from the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service arrested Dr. Geronimo Rubio, 45, of San Diego, the medical director of Hospital San Martin, a small two-story clinic in Tijuana's residential La Mesa section.
Also arrested were two staffers at Bonita-based American Metabolic Institute, which owns the clinic: Director William Fry, 65, and office manager Debbie LaRue, 48, both of Chula Vista. Fry and Rubio are co-owners of the institute.

Daniel Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the FBI's local office, said the defendants taken into custody this morning "did the unthinkable."

"They capitalized on people's vulnerabilities in their most desperate hours and gave them false hope," he said. "This is despicable."

Borderline Medicine - San Diego Times-Union - more on Williiam Fry and company from an article from February 24, 2002 by Sandra Dibble and Penni CrabtreeOne year after a sweeping crackdown on Tijuana's long- controversial alternative cancer clinics, many of them still sell expensive, unproven therapies in defiance of the law.

It was the promise of a breakthrough cancer "vaccine" derived from extracts of animal tissue that persuaded Jim and Rhonda Luciano of Edmunds, Wash., to bring their 6-year-old son, Silas, to the American Metabolic Institute in Tijuana.

Like a virtual Pied Piper, it was the upbeat Web site of another clinic, Hospital Santa Monica, that persuaded Eugenia Serebryakova, a 76-year-old San Diego woman, to seek treatment across the border.

The families of both patients left Tijuana in despair.

Neither Bonita businessman William Fry, the director of the American Metabolic Institute, nor Tijuana physician Geronimo Rubio, its medical director, responded to numerous requests for interviews from the Union-Tribune.

Just weeks into the treatments, the Lucianos said, Rubio presented CAT scans that purportedly showed their child's cancer had disappeared.

The Lucianos said they spent $90,000 and three months at the clinic, but Silas' condition continued to deteriorate. They took Silas to a traditional Tijuana hospital for an additional set of tests. Doctors there confirmed the boy's body was riddled with cancer.

The Lucianos confronted Rubio with the hospital tests. They said he assured them their son was fine and promised a new, stronger course of experimental treatments.

"If someone said, 'If you jump up and down in manure, it will help your son,' we'd have jumped up and down in manure," Jim Luciano said. "Mentally, all you want someone to say is, 'We can do it; there is no problem.' And that's what Rubio always said."

Two days later, on Feb. 14, 2001, Silas died at the clinic.

Five months later, the American Metabolic Institute was closed for offering illegal alternative therapies, including its animal-tissue- derived "vaccines," Mexican authorities said. The clinic defied the order, moving patients to a Tijuana hotel, and regulators shut it down again.

Eventually, American Metabolic was allowed to reopen on the condition that it provide only conventional medical services. But last month, the Union-Tribune interviewed a handful of Americans at the clinic who said they were being treated with tissue vaccines, enemas containing shark cartilage and other alternative treatments.

Geronimo Rubio's quack clinic promoted for years by Toronto based Consumer Health Organization. It's the same group that also arranged for Hulda Clark to come up here this year, but she never made it across the border. Hmm....... I wonder why.

Support HealthWatcher.net

If you would like to support our efforts to combat quackery, health and diet fraud we make it easy for you to donate to the cause.

If you reload the article above several times you will notice that the three small advertisements at the bottom of the page change. When I first looked at the article on March 25, 2004, three of the ads were for cancer quacks. I filed a complaint with the Washington Post about this.
The three links that were the most disturbing to me:

Immune Recovery Clinic - Atlanta and Monterrey, Mexico based clinics. Bennie Stephen Johnson, who claims to have licenses in four States (Tennessee, Arizona, Colorado, and Georgia), in reality is only licensed in Georgia.

MSB-Holistics presentation at the University of Waterloo

Buffalo, NY and Ft. Erie, Ontario QXCI and MLM offshore banking promoters known as the MSB-Holistics spoke at the University of Waterloo's Conrad Grebel College on March 20, 2004. Why didn't they bring their device with them for a demonstration?

- WANTED - PATIENTS WHO HAVE BEENTREATED FOR CANCERBY NATUROPATHS IN CANADA

Cancer patients who have a fear of standard medical treatment for their condition, or who have failed therapy with radiation, or chemotherapy may seek alternative care. That is their right to do so. However, there is a very strong caveat that you need to pay attention to.

Most Canadian Provinces, and most U.S. States have absolutely no regulation over naturopathic practitioners. Even when there are laws or regulations in place, most of these clinics are unsupervised. If these were medical clinics that operated this way, they would either lose their funding, or be out of business in a hurry. Naturopathic clinics for the most part use bogus screening tests, dubious "natural medical" devices, unproved laboratory tests, and non-standard treatments for serious conditions, like cancer.

The main problem is not whether people are just wasting their money on alleged preventative health care, the "natural way", the crux of the matter is that patients are regularly lured into these clinics to pursue aggressive, non-therapeutic, possibly toxic interventions that are not regulated under any laws. They are taking their lives into their hands, and may have no protection under the law.

To trust any naturopathic regulatory college in Canada to review web sites for health claims, or to inspect their members' clinics is a serious mistake. Regulators have proved time and time again that they are basically either not interested in doing their job, or are damn incompetent. Laws are meant to protect the public from maltreatment, or abuse, and unless a naturopath kills or molests someone their practices are basically ignored. In those Provinces where naturopathic "associations", not "colleges", are at the top of the heap, there is no protection for the public.

In an attempt to pursue this serious breech of trust, HealthWatcher.net has a pet project and we would like you to help. Following the resources below, if any of you have had cancer, and have been treated by Canadian based naturopaths (or even people who claim to be naturopaths).

Support HealthWatcher.net

Canadian naturopathic resources

Canadian Naturopathic Association list of Provinces and status of naturopaths. Some of these links will provide you with a list of names and phone numbers of these practitioners.

Alberta - NOT REGULATED. We are particularly interested in those clinics in the Calgary area where there may be medical doctors, and dentists who share facilities. Naturopaths are NOT recognized under Provincial legislation, and therefore you really need to know that their screening tests, laboratory procedures, and treatment methods may not be officially approved or in fact safe for use in Canada. In our search we were advised by one of them how we could obtain Laetrile from Mexico, via the U.S. I guess they wanted to insure that there were no ties between their clinic and this ill-advised adventure.

British Columbia - REGULATED . We would like to hear from people who have attended clinics operated by members of the Board of the CNPBC, and those in Kelowna and Vancouver area. Also, we'd like to hear from anyone who has ever complained to the College of Naturopathic Physicians in British Columbia.

Ontario - not regulated under present RHPA. They have their own Bloodless Practitioners Act - Naturopathy. The legislation that enables naturopaths to claim official status, outside of the regulated health professions come from the early part of the 20th Century. Many of those who officially call themselves naturopathic doctors in Ontario have demonstrated a lack of concern about how they practice. They use bogus methods of diagnosis, treat patients with unproved invasive techniques, and make false claims for their treatments. What is particularly bad in Ontario is that there are a significant number of fake naturopaths who have set up shop around the Province. Some of them go by the name "natural medicine doctor", or even use the designation ND. These people are not only quacks, they are probably criminals, too.

Quebec - NOT REGULATED - This Province has a real problem. In fact it is so bad that it spills over to Ontario, where renegade naturopaths enter the Province and treat cancer patients. They have NO right to do that.

Zoetron crushed by FTC?

The bottom line is this, two years ago, the FTC closed the CSCT web sites and froze their bank accounts in the U.S. But guess what, we don't see anyone behind bars anywhere. THEY DID NOT HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THEY DID ANYTHING WRONG.

Duh, so why aren't they crushing rocks on a chain gang in Ohio, or British Columbia, or Kitchener, Ontario? What about their victims, some 850 of them who paid these guys all of that money?

Michael John Reynolds John Leslie Armstrong agreed that their company offered bogus electromagnetic cancer therapy to U.S. citizens. So what about the Canadian's who fell for this?

The settlement prohibits the defendants from making false claims in connection with the marketing and sale of any service, program, food, drug, or device and prohibits them from helping others to do the same thing.

In coordination with officials in Canada and Mexico, the Federal Trade
Commission has charged CSCT, Inc., based in British Columbia, with making
false claims that it can treat cancer by using an electromagnetic device to kill
cancer cells. The FTC alleges that the company uses its Internet Web site to
advertise this treatment to consumers in the United States and elsewhere.

According to the FTC, the defendants charge consumers $15,000 up front for
several weeks of "treatments" with the electromagnetic device.

Trilateral Cooperation Charter in effect March 1, 2004
To increase communication, collaboration, and the exchange of information among the U.S., Canada and Mexico in the areas of drugs, biologics, medical devices, food safety and nutrition to protect and promote human health.

MISSION

To protect and promote public health through a trilateral forum that shares information and works collaboratively on issues of mutual interest.

So, what about all of the existing supplies of illegal, contaminated and/or adulterated products
that are still floating around? How about those quack cancer clinics are still operating in those three countries, right under the noses of our governments. That is particularly true here in Canada. Yes, that's right in Canada.....P.I.T.Y!!

Laetrile - Amygdalin links to Canadian Clinic

Links from their site are very interesting indeed. After searching a few of them, I couldn't help but notice that at least one of them, a clinic in Canada, was involved in helping people obtain Amygdalin, also known as Laetrile. They told me that all I had to do is contact a private mailbox in San Ysidro, California.

I could safely place my order through www.cytopharma.com. which of course was in Mexico. I noticed something very strange about the mailbox number. It's the site where dozens of Tijuana based companaies had their U.S. maildrops. It was quite a collection. Just put the address above in a Google Search and see what you come up with. I came up with 198 hits.
If you put the address into a Yahoo map search.. Just zoom out and you can see how close Mexico is from their location. It looks to be about 4 kms. north of the border.

It's the same mailbox store used by the Biopulse scammers that we covered here.
San Ysidro is right across the border from Mexico where their associates were conveniently located, out of harms way from the FDA. So, they told me to give them a buzz and have it shipped to Florida. I could then have it reshipped to me up here in Canada if I was smart enough to avoid Customs inspection. The clinic in Canada failed to mention the fact that Amydalin, or in this case Amigdalina B-17 (AKA Laetrile) was still an illegal drug in the U.S.

In February 2004, Jack Edwin Slingluff, D.O., of Canton, Ohio, was charged with introducing an unapproved new drug into interstate commerce. The one-count criminal information states that he "caused thirty (30) vials of the unapproved new drug Amigdalina B-17 (AKA Laetrile) to be shipped from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Salem, Ohio; in violation of Title 21, Sections 331(d), 355(a) and 333(a)(1), United States Code."

Harvard Medical School reportLaetrile and bitter almond have been associated with serious toxicity and are considered to be unsafe because of their potential to cause cyanide poisoning. Symptoms of cyanide poisoning in people who used laetrile have included headache, dilated pupils, seizures, muscle spasms, difficulty breathing, metabolic abnormalities, shock, coma and death.

Tyrell Dueck - 13 year old who was lured to Tijuana by Canadian politicians and cancer quacks was given i.v. laetrile shortly before he died a horrible death.

More Laetrile vendors, including a Suffern, NY medical doctor named Michael Schacter who is promoted by the Cancer Control Society. You can even buy a collection of videos from their 31st Annual Convention held in 2003 where some of the world's leading authorities are featured. Excuse me, but I don't personally think that they are authorities. Some of them are certified quacks.

Sylvia Millecam tragedy

Netherlands to crack down on complementary medicine

The Netherlands is considering tougher laws on practitioners of complementary medicine after government health inspectors who were investigating the death from breast cancer in 2001 of the actress and comedienne Sylvia Millecam severely criticised her treatment.

The investigators found that alternative practitioners contradicted the diagnosis of breast cancer made by her doctors and offered her instead the prospect of a cure with "unfounded methods of treatment."

The report concluded that "various individual carers" had "offered such irresponsible care" that disciplinary action or criminal proceedings are likely. Their role prevented a cure or an extension of Ms Millecam's life, and she died from untreated breast cancer.

Ms Millecam was treated by 28 different practitioners and institutions. Though mainstream care was available she exclusively chose alternative treatments.

She was referred to a surgeon, but instead she chose a doctor who practised alternative electro-acupuncture. She was assured that nothing was the matter.

The inspectorate now wants the law changed to ensure greater supervision of alternative practitioners and that all such practitioners have to be registered. It also wants it made illegal for anyone other than a trained doctor to be allowed to make a medical diagnosis.

The story about Parker Jensen, A 12-year-old boy whose parents had been under a court order to allow chemotherapy for cancer, made headlines for months. Their father, Daren Jensen, a Pocatello, Idaho chiropractor didn't want his son Parker to have chemotherapy for Ewings sarcoma, a bone cancer. He and his family fled the State.

If untreated, Ewing's sarcoma could spread through the blood to the lungs, bone marrow, kidneys and heart, resulting in an extremely painful death with patients gasping for their final breaths, experts said.

The courts finally, after four months of legal wrangling left Utah exactly where it started: with a Sandy boy diagnosed with cancer and his parents resistant to doctor-recommended chemotherapy.
After all of the court hearings, political rallies and news conferences, the medical-neglect case ended behind closed doors when 3rd District Juvenile Court Judge Robert Yeates accepted the state's motion to dismiss.

BULLETIN - FEBRUARY 27, 2004

The Utah House has passed a bill that redefines abuse and neglect in the child-protection laws.

"This bill changes the presumption that parents are guilty," said the sponsor, Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan. "It changes the presumption back to parents being innocent until proven guilty, and it changes back that families are OK."

Opponents say it jeopardizes children's safety and could unravel the state's settlement of a lawsuit by child-protection groups that has left Utah's child-welfare system under the oversight of the federal court. The measure has been called the Parker Jensen bill and was one of a number introduced in reaction to the state's now-abandoned effort to get chemotherapy for 12-year-old Parker Jensen over his parents' opposition. The boy was diagnosed with cancer.
Opponents say the bill was enacted in haste, and some suggested it be sent to an interim committee for longer study.

Alternative cancer treatment shortens lives

This study examines the association between alternative medicines (AM) and cancer survival. The use of AM seems to predict a shorter survival from cancer.

Cancer Cure Research Group

We dedicate this site to those who have been defrauded by cancer quacks everywhere. If you stumbled across our version of CCRG, then you've come to the right place. We don't have the world's largest database of cancer information, but we do have just about the best collection of cancer misinformation, cancer quacks and criminals that prey on innocent patients and their families.

FTC busts David L Walker and CWAT BioResonance device

Original charges - March 2002 - .pdf file
The FTC alleges David L. Walker is using an Internet site to market products he claims cure cancer, including his "CWAT -Treatment: BioResonance Therapy and Molecular Enhancer." The site claims his treatments, for which he charges between $2,400 and $5,200, make surgery, chemotherapy, and other conventional cancer treatments
unnecessary. The FTC alleges the claims are unsubstantiated and a declaration from a distinguished oncologist suggests the therapies are potentially harmful to cancer patients. The agency has asked the court to bar the unsubstantiated claims permanently, and order consumer redress

Bogus Cancer Cure Guru Settles FTC Charges - Final decision summary - October 28, 2002
David L. Walker, from the State of Washington, who marketed bogus cancer cures claiming they made other conventional cancer treatments unnecessary has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that his claims were unsubstantiated. The settlement permanently bars the defendant from making unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits and efficacy of health-related products and services. The FTC filed this case in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General of Washington and with its invaluable assistance. The Attorney General's Office obtained a judgment in its companion case barring the unsubstantiated claims in Washington state and requiring the defendant to pay $229,000 in consumer restitution.

San Diego's Union Tribune attacks cancer quacks

Hulda's forces operate in defiance of Mexican shutdownPenni Crabtree and Sandra Dibble set their sites on Hulda's multi-million dollar operations on both sides of the border. Families sell their homes to pay this woman and her followers for bogus treatments. Why doesn't the U.S. government and the Mexican government shut her down? Why are her zappers made and sold from Canada?

PrimeTime exposes Tijuana Quacks

These gutless crooks take in millions terminal cancer patients. Some of their treatments could be deadly. All are useless. This show features Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg of the NIH, and Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch.

Canadian politician says his cancer disappeared with naturopathic help

An elected member of Provincal Parliament in Ontario says that he wants greater acceptance of alternative medicine to treat cancer. The Ottawa Citizen reporter again supports quackery and fraud on the internet by writing this article. I don't understand how the editor of the paper continues to support such quackery, and victimization of Ontario patients.

How the hell does Mr. Patten know that he is free of cancer after only one year of treatment? This is aburd. What if Mr. Patten's chances of survival were DECREASED by his use of useless, and potentially harmful natural methods? The author of the article didn't even take the time to interview an oncologist on the subject. Instead he chooses to speak with Linda Rapson who practices holistic medicine and teaches acupuncture.

The reporter's assertion that the Ontario government passed legislation that legalized alternative medicine in Ontario is absurd. Quacks of all stripes have basically been left alone by the CPSO (College of Physisians and Surgeons of Ontario), for years. Major quack cancer clinics are still thriving in Ontario, untouched by the regulators. All it takes is a phone call, and instead of wasting your money going to Tijuana, you can be treated right here in this Province by licensed medical doctors.

Mr. Richard Patten must realize that his support of naturopathy and internet quackery will takes its toll on others. I wonder if he might take a little responsiblity on his own shoulders, because the Ottawa Citizen doesn't give a damn about medical facts.

Apart from his chemotherapy, Mr. Patten visited naturopaths in Montreal
and Ottawa. He began drinking different teas using a variety of herbs, started
taking vitamins, took up meditation and even had a session in a native sweat
lodge -- all considered alternative or complementary treatments.

He received his information from the Internet, from books and from friends,
but none from his own doctors. The costs reached up to $800 a week.

Cancer 'cure' ended in death

Cancer was eating away at Steward last summer when he arrived from New Orleans and made his way to an isolated country house above the Columbia River. He hoped to save his life
with a "magic" concoction its promoters say was born of science and Native American legend.

Suzanne Somers - does she or doesn't she?

When Larry King interviewed Suzanne Somers about her "cancer" she dropped a bombshell:

Did Somers really have her breast cancer treated with radiation therapy?

Did Somers really go to a plastic surgeon for liposuction to improve her skin condition after the lumpectomy?

Did her doctor tell her that her original mammogram missed a 2.5 cm. tumor and that his $500,000 ultrasound machine failed to detect?

Why did she refuse chemotherapy?

Why would she need to have a mammogram every 3 months? Wouldn't the increase in radiation from the mammogram actually increase the risk of another tumor? Remember, she said that the standard mammogram missed a tumor the size of a ping-pong ball.

Why did she consult Burton Goldberg from Alternative Medicine Magazine? I he a doctor?

Did she go to Mexico to consult with any cancer clinics down there?

Who convinced her that a cure is 97% possible if she used a quack treatment based on homeopathic injections invented by a 19th Century cult leader?

Somers' cancer treatment worries some experts - CNN.COM - March 30, 2001
When actress Suzanne Somers revealed
Wednesday that she's using a homeopathic drug to treat her breast cancer, she
acknowledged that it may not be for everyone.

But some breast cancer experts worry that other cancer patients will follow her
example in cases where it might not be appropriate. Somers' doctors would not discuss her particular case.

Hulda Clark's "Cure For All Cancers" - ....Except Hanne's

My friend, a young woman of 42 years, was diagnosed with severe breast cancer. She got a full mastectomy and was treated with
chemo and radiation.

She contacted an alternative practitioner, who besides magnetic treatments also deals with the Hulda Regehr Clark protocols.
These protocols are based on the idea that all cancers are caused by a single internal parasite - the human fluke.

Clark claims that all cancers and many other diseases are caused by "parasites, toxins, and pollutants" and can be cured by
killing the parasites and ridding the body of environmental chemicals. Her book, The Cure for All Cancers, states:

"All cancers are alike. They are all caused by a parasite. A single parasite! It is the human intestinal fluke. And if you
kill this parasite, the cancer stops immediately. The tissue becomes normal again. In order to get cancer, you must have this
parasite ...."

My friend started to follow the prescriptions of practitioner Henrik Dalsmund, Denmark, for cleanses and zapping in order to
rid herself of the flukes.

The practitioner told her, that her beloved pets maybe were the cause of her cancer by infecting her with the parasite! He
urged her to get the animals (5 dogs, 4 cats and birds) out of the house. She managed to place all the animals with others,
except 2 dogs, which were also treated with the zapper! I must tell that she was single, and her pets were her whole life and
heart. She had a limited circle of friends, whom all have dogs, cats and other animals. She therefore could not visit them,
nor ask them to visit her, because she was afraid of being re-infected! Even her mother, who took care of her, could not
bring her dogs, they had to be placed with others too. She and her mother ended up sitting very much alone - and THAT I find
to be really cruel! Taking away a terminal person's last joy of life, and placing a false hope for full recovery.

The practitioner claimed at her first visit that he could cure her cancer for sure! She paid him at least $800 for capsules,
tinctures, zappers and the full Monty. She followed the protocol by the letter, ate organic food, and changed her soap and
hygiene articles to organic products.

After she had finished the chemo and radiation treatments, she started to work again, but shortly (* year) after she was
diagnosed with a recurrence of the cancer, which had now spread to her lungs and liver, in spite of what Hulda Clark claims!!
She was now only offered palliative and prolonging care (chemo therapy), as recidivistic breast cancers are considered
non-treatable and incurable.

She again turned to the HC-practitioner, who once again claimed he could cure her, and he would now use a real strong cure!
(She received chemo at the same time.)

We talked a lot with her about the HC-concept. I was very critical. She said that HC was her only hope - and did I want to
cut her off from that? NO, but I certainly didn't like seeing her being exploited and maybe hurting herself by consuming all
those herbs and capsules, of which some are known to be poisonous. They sure made her vomit a lot, and spoiled her appetite!
And thereby stole the good which proper nutrition could have given her.

No matter what, she continued on the HC-protocol all by the letter - she hadn't read the book though, she didn't have the
energy to do so. She blindly trusted the HC-practitioner, and as "HC is a doctor and has written several books, she must be
sincere!"

She also continued to visit the HC-practitioner, and when she told him that she had refused the last chemo-treatment the
hospital could offer her - just about a week before she passed away - he answered: "I am glad about that, it gives us a
chance to fill in"

One Friday she was taken to the hospital suffering from severe lack of oxygen due to the cancer having spread to the lung
tissue. Tuesday I visited her, and watched her zapping, both her and the dogs, and she swallowed a bunch of capsules.
She had an appointment with the HC-practitioner a few days later - she didn't make it.

It Ain't Over 'til the Fluke Lady Sings - Hulda's clinic shut down

THE TIME HAS COME THE WALRUS SAID TO TALK OF MANY THINGS, OF FLUKES, AND ZAPS AND CEILING WAX AND GREEN WALNUT HUSKS AND CABBAGE LEAVES.

BUT IT'S OH SO NICE TO VIEW THE SCENE NEAR SAN YSIDRO BORDER CROSSING, WHEN TIM AND HULDA AWAIT THEIR FATE AS WE GET READY FOR A SOMBRERO TOSSING.

SO IF YOU MUST PICK UP A FLASK OF TJ'S FINEST WATER, IT WON'T BE MIXED WITH PARASITES, CAUSE HULDA MAY BECOME A PERMANENT MEXICAN

HAVE NO FEAR, THE POSSE'S STILL HERE DONNING OUR FINEST JEANS, BUT LET'S NOT FORGET IT AIN'T OVER TILL THE FLUKE LADY SINGS.

This time it was Tim Bolen and Hulda Clark who had some "splainin to do" to the militia. I wonder if they tried their zapper. And how come they couldn't "syncronize" their syncrometer. How come their network of super sleuths were unable to place a mole in the offices of jefe of Baja California health department?

Hulda Clark's legacy - Canada's gift or curse?

Scientology and Blackshirts - Hulda's minions or her masters?Hulda Clark narrowly escaped jail after her case for practicing medicine without a license was thrown out of court in Indiana. This graduate of the University of Saskatchewan has never faced the music. Follow the whole story and learn about the delusional ideas advanced by a woman who has a stable of protectors who threaten physicians, and scientists with police action and lawsuits in order to sustain their grand scheme to defraud the public.

Biopulse shut down then reopens in Tijuana

Biopulse annual report - yes it's publicly traded! - Why would they have money in escrow with Brigham Young University? They run insulin therapy to put people into a coma. This clinic was recently featured on ABC's PrimeTime with an undercover report on quack cancer clinics in Tijuana.

The Strange Saga of Biopulse - The May 2001 Townsend Letter reports on the clinic and its director, Loran Swensen.
"Mr. Swensen is a former Mormon missionary, whose new mission is to make high-tech
alternative treatments available to Americans. He comes across as forthright and
friendly, eager to share details of his treatment and business plans. He has held a variety
of jobs, most recently selling "motion simulators" to the entertainment industry. His
involvement with alternative medicine stemmed from his son's treatment for cerebral
palsy at a Mexican clinic some years back. A positive experience led him to start a chain
of medical clinics of his own in the US. But he eventually closed these down, by his own
admission, just one step ahead of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There were persistent rumors about the company, its treatments and officers. Some readers may see BioPulse as the victim of a conspiracy by conventional medicine (or stock manipulators).

"They are scoundrels! - Gamblingmagazine.com says of some of the former auditors who did the Biopulse books.
Gambling Magazine was the first to tell you what kind of crooks
and scoundrels were Jones and Jensen, A/K/A HJ & Associates,
LLC. As reported by Gambling Magazine, they also are Starnet's
auditors and represent some of the Biggest Scamsters in the
underbelly of Wall Street. This latest story made Gambling
Magazine PEE in their pants. Jones and Jensen used to be the
accountants of BIO PULSE INTERNATIONAL INC.

VectorVest investor report - I think you need to read again about their name change. We should give out a prize to see who can guess all the names associated, or linked, or claimed to be linked to the people in Tijuana.

Edgar reports - Despite the fact that insulin coma does nothing for cancer, never has, never will, this company continues to operate as if nothing has changed. And, people continue to invest in it. Where is the SEC, the FTC, and the U.S. government?

What's this, the landlord wants a letter of credit in San Diego? - San Diego Union Tribune - Feb 22, 2001
The company also announced that it's changing its name to California BioScience. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission started an inquiry of the company's advertising
practices. Some medical experts dismiss BioPulse's alternative cancer therapies, which include
using insulin to induce comas in patients, as useless and potentially risky.

TheStreet.com - Stock Talk - Ticker is BIOP - press release by company doesn't mention fact that their clinic was shut down in Tijuana. They claim it was sold. Who do you believe?

Is the name Biopulse really just a DBA? According to one source, they are registered with Hoovers as Solary. I am very confused. If so, that company was sued by ACLU in 1995 for firing an employee with HIV/AIDS.

BioPulse and Burton Goldberg sued by chiropractor

A former BioPulse International client has filed a lawsuit alleging that the company induced him to
pay for "worthless" medical care by making false claims about the success of its alternative cancer
therapies.

The client, Santa Barbara chiropractor Paul Burns, alleges that San Ysidro-based BioPulse
fraudulently persuaded him to pay the company $27,500 to provide an unproven insulin coma
therapy to his terminally ill mother.

- Sydney Morning Herald - Ben Hills - December 30, 2000Cancer sufferers have died after putting their faith in a device with electrical parts worth just $15.

A Herald investigation has uncovered a cottage industry in Australia promoting these devices for treating the most lethalillnesses, including cancer, leukaemia and AIDS. Two companies are manufacturing and selling them, and at least a dozenclinics, some operated by qualified doctors, offer Rife therapy at up to $80 an hour to desperately ill patients. There are about60 Internet sites devoted to the devices and innumerable books and magazine articles.

A poor Australian family borrowed money against their invalid pensions and sent $1,425 to a company called Electromed (Australia)Pty Ltd, which sent them a small black box decorated with flashing lights, some wiring, two nylon pads and a copy of a book, The Cancer Cure that Worked - Fifty Years of Suppression, by an American "investigative journalist", Barry Lynes.

Four people, including a child of five, who have died in Australia and NewZealand after giving up conventional therapy for treatment with Rife machines.

Hydrazine sulphate from internet kills Hawaii man with cancer

Hydrazine, Cancer, the Internet, Isoniazid, and the Liver - Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:911-913. - Martin Black, MD; and Hamid Hussain, MDThe ready availability of medical information on the Internet, the burgeoning role of complementary and alternative therapies in present-day health care, and the failure of government to regulate such therapies combine to make the report by Hainer and coworkers in this issue a timely warning. The authors describe a 55-year-old man with squamous-cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus who accessed an Internet Web site that proclaimed benefits from hydrazine sulfate for people with cancer. He purchased the chemical from a source identified by the Web site and, forsaking medical supervision, took it for 4 months before presenting with evidence of combined renal and liver toxicity. The patient ultimately died of these complications.

In plain English with explanation - Hydrazine sulfate may be associated with liver and kidney failure that can lead to death. Patients should use caution in self-treating themselves with nonprescription products purchased on the Internet.

Christian Brothers admits they liedChristian Brothers Contracting Corporation has agreed to stop manufacturing and selling laetrile, a product that has been touted as a cancer cure despite there being no scientific evidence for such a claim.

The problem is there are hundreds of other potential companies out there and millions of suckers willing to pay any price to get this stuff, anywhere they can. Some may die because of it.

Support HealthWatcher.net

If you would like to support our efforts to combat quackery, health and diet fraud we make it easy for you to donate to the cause.

Texas woman put faith in naturopathic quack

Linda Malone, of Fort Worth, Texas, had a cancerous tumor removed from her breast in September 1997, and, fearing chemotherapy as a follow-up treatment, turned to the Internet.
During the three years she took hydrazine under the care of a local naturopath, the cancer returned to her breast and spread to her liver.

They "made it sound like it was a miracle cure for cancer," Malone, 58, said. "It was supposed to kill any cancerous tumors that might try to appear."

During the three years she took the chemical under the care of a local naturopath, the cancer returned to her breast and spread.

(She received chemo at the same time.)

We talked a lot with her about the HC-concept. I was very critical. She said that HC was her only hope - and did I want to
cut her off from that? NO, but I certainly didn't like seeing her being exploited and maybe hurting herself by consuming all
those herbs and capsules, of which some are known to be poisonous. They sure made her vomit a lot, and spoiled her appetite!
And thereby stole the good which proper nutrition could have given her.

No matter what, she continued on the HC-protocol all by the letter - she hadn't read the book though, she didn't have the
energy to do so. She blindly trusted the HC-practitioner, and as "HC is a doctor and has written several books, she must be
sincere!"

She also continued to visit the HC-practitioner, and when she told him that she had refused the last chemo-treatment the
hospital could offer her - just about a week before she passed away - he answered: "I am glad about that, it gives us a
chance to fill in"

One Friday she was taken to the hospital suffering from severe lack of oxygen due to the cancer having spread to the lung
tissue. Tuesday I visited her, and watched her zapping, both her and the dogs, and she swallowed a bunch of capsules.
She had an appointment with the HC-practitioner a few days later - she didn't make it.

It Ain't Over 'til the Fluke Lady Sings - Hulda's clinic shut down

This time it was Tim Bolen and Hulda Clark who had some "splainin to do" to the militia. I wonder if they tried their zapper. And how come they couldn't "syncronize" their syncrometer. How come their network of super sleuths were unable to place a mole in the offices of jefe of Baja California health department?

Hulda Clark's legacy - Canada's gift or curse?

Scientology and Blackshirts - Hulda's minions or her masters?Hulda Clark narrowly escaped jail after her case for practicing medicine without a license was thrown out of court in Indiana. This graduate of the University of Saskatchewan has never faced the music. Follow the whole story and learn about the delusional ideas advanced by a woman who has a stable of protectors who threaten physicians, and scientists with police action and lawsuits in order to sustain their grand scheme to defraud the public.

Biopulse shut down then reopens in Tijuana

Biopulse annual report - yes it's publicly traded! - Why would they have money in escrow with Brigham Young University? They run insulin therapy to put people into a coma. This clinic was recently featured on ABC's PrimeTime with an undercover report on quack cancer clinics in Tijuana.

The Strange Saga of Biopulse - The May 2001 Townsend Letter reports on the clinic and its director, Loran Swensen.
"Mr. Swensen is a former Mormon missionary, whose new mission is to make high-tech
alternative treatments available to Americans. He comes across as forthright and
friendly, eager to share details of his treatment and business plans. He has held a variety
of jobs, most recently selling "motion simulators" to the entertainment industry. His
involvement with alternative medicine stemmed from his son's treatment for cerebral
palsy at a Mexican clinic some years back. A positive experience led him to start a chain
of medical clinics of his own in the US. But he eventually closed these down, by his own
admission, just one step ahead of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

There were persistent rumors about the company, its treatments and officers. Some readers may see BioPulse as the victim of a conspiracy by conventional medicine (or stock manipulators).

"They are scoundrels! - Gamblingmagazine.com says of some of the former auditors who did the Biopulse books.
Gambling Magazine was the first to tell you what kind of crooks
and scoundrels were Jones and Jensen, A/K/A HJ & Associates,
LLC. As reported by Gambling Magazine, they also are Starnet's
auditors and represent some of the Biggest Scamsters in the
underbelly of Wall Street. This latest story made Gambling
Magazine PEE in their pants. Jones and Jensen used to be the
accountants of BIO PULSE INTERNATIONAL INC.

VectorVest investor report - I think you need to read again about their name change. We should give out a prize to see who can guess all the names associated, or linked, or claimed to be linked to the people in Tijuana.

Edgar reports - Despite the fact that insulin coma does nothing for cancer, never has, never will, this company continues to operate as if nothing has changed. And, people continue to invest in it. Where is the SEC, the FTC, and the U.S. government?

What's this, the landlord wants a letter of credit in San Diego? - San Diego Union Tribune - Feb 22, 2001
The company also announced that it's changing its name to California BioScience. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission started an inquiry of the company's advertising
practices. Some medical experts dismiss BioPulse's alternative cancer therapies, which include
using insulin to induce comas in patients, as useless and potentially risky.

TheStreet.com - Stock Talk - Ticker is BIOP - press release by company doesn't mention fact that their clinic was shut down in Tijuana. They claim it was sold. Who do you believe?

Is the name Biopulse really just a DBA? According to one source, they are registered with Hoovers as Solary. I am very confused. If so, that company was sued by ACLU in 1995 for firing an employee with HIV/AIDS.

BioPulse and Burton Goldberg sued by chiropractor

A former BioPulse International client has filed a lawsuit alleging that the company induced him to
pay for "worthless" medical care by making false claims about the success of its alternative cancer
therapies.

The client, Santa Barbara chiropractor Paul Burns, alleges that San Ysidro-based BioPulse
fraudulently persuaded him to pay the company $27,500 to provide an unproven insulin coma
therapy to his terminally ill mother.

- Sydney Morning Herald - Ben Hills - December 30, 2000Cancer sufferers have died after putting their faith in a device with electrical parts worth just $15.

A Herald investigation has uncovered a cottage industry in Australia promoting these devices for treating the most lethalillnesses, including cancer, leukaemia and AIDS. Two companies are manufacturing and selling them, and at least a dozenclinics, some operated by qualified doctors, offer Rife therapy at up to $80 an hour to desperately ill patients. There are about60 Internet sites devoted to the devices and innumerable books and magazine articles.

A poor Australian family borrowed money against their invalid pensions and sent $1,425 to a company called Electromed (Australia)Pty Ltd, which sent them a small black box decorated with flashing lights, some wiring, two nylon pads and a copy of a book, The Cancer Cure that Worked - Fifty Years of Suppression, by an American "investigative journalist", Barry Lynes.

Four people, including a child of five, who have died in Australia and NewZealand after giving up conventional therapy for treatment with Rife machines.

Hydrazine sulphate from internet kills Hawaii man with cancer

Hydrazine, Cancer, the Internet, Isoniazid, and the Liver - Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:911-913. - Martin Black, MD; and Hamid Hussain, MDThe ready availability of medical information on the Internet, the burgeoning role of complementary and alternative therapies in present-day health care, and the failure of government to regulate such therapies combine to make the report by Hainer and coworkers in this issue a timely warning. The authors describe a 55-year-old man with squamous-cell carcinoma of the maxillary sinus who accessed an Internet Web site that proclaimed benefits from hydrazine sulfate for people with cancer. He purchased the chemical from a source identified by the Web site and, forsaking medical supervision, took it for 4 months before presenting with evidence of combined renal and liver toxicity. The patient ultimately died of these complications.

In plain English with explanation - Hydrazine sulfate may be associated with liver and kidney failure that can lead to death. Patients should use caution in self-treating themselves with nonprescription products purchased on the Internet.

Christian Brothers admits they liedChristian Brothers Contracting Corporation has agreed to stop manufacturing and selling laetrile, a product that has been touted as a cancer cure despite there being no scientific evidence for such a claim.

The problem is there are hundreds of other potential companies out there and millions of suckers willing to pay any price to get this stuff, anywhere they can. Some may die because of it.

Texas woman put faith in naturopathic quack

Linda Malone, of Fort Worth, Texas, had a cancerous tumor removed from her breast in September 1997, and, fearing chemotherapy as a follow-up treatment, turned to the Internet.
During the three years she took hydrazine under the care of a local naturopath, the cancer returned to her breast and spread to her liver.

They "made it sound like it was a miracle cure for cancer," Malone, 58, said. "It was supposed to kill any cancerous tumors that might try to appear."

During the three years she took the chemical under the care of a local naturopath, the cancer returned to her breast and spread.

New Zealand boy dies at quack Tijuana clinic

Little Liam's battle ends

By MARTIN JOHNSTON and FRANCESCA MOLD

October 28, 2000

Brendan Holloway read stories to his dying son and put the otherchildren to bed. Then he and Trena Williams sat with little Liam Williams-Holloway in a clinic in Tijuana, Mexico as he closed his eyesand never woke up.

The blond, blue-eyed boy from Hawea Flat in Central Otago brought anation together in sadness that some one so young should be dying, butdivided it over his medical treatment.

He died early on Wednesday morning after battling cancer for a thirdof his short life. He was five-and-a-half years old.

Free Speech Threatened by CCRG

Threats against this webmaster, and other web sites around the world by the CCRG to stop the publication or news about their involvement in counseling cancer patients will not stop.

We were informed by fax and by e-mail on March 10, 2000 that we were being charged with libel by William O'Neill, the head of the Canadian Cancer Research Group. He also stated in an e-mail that he was reporting our web site to Division #3 of the Kitchener-Waterloo police department. We wish him well in his efforts to educate the public from the largest cancer treatment database in the world that he owns. If he has an 80%+ cure for certain cancers, why hasn't he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

His treatment is not cheap and is rarely covered by insurance. Gonzalez said he charges $2,000 for an initial consultation and $70 to $100 forfollow-ups. Enzymes and vitamins cost about $6,000 to $7,500 per year. So why do people flock to his office, and why is he the darling of politicians and the media?

What does Gonzalez support?

Radionics machines - bogus

Faith Hope and Fraud - Los Angeles Times - 1991 A machine called the Digitron was used in the trial of a quack in 1991. It was basically a "radionics" device that worked like "instrumented prayer" in "another dimension" using "subtle energy" at the "level of the mind."

Invented by quackster Albert AbramsAccording to the Abrams theory, which he called "radionics," all parts of the body vibrate and emit electrical impulses of different, ascertainable frequencies. What's more,diseased organs emit impulses of different frequencies from healthy ones. To diagnose illness one "tuned in on the body's organswith an Abrams radionics machine, noted where abnormal vibrations were occurring, and pinpointed the nature of the illness from the rate of vibration. The "cure" consisted in allegedly feeding proper vibrations into the body with an Abrams machine,thus overcoming the improper ones.It's really interesting that when Gonzalez was asked about the radionics machine by Arnold Diaz on 20/20, he didn't have bloody clue how these things worked, and whatsmore, he didn't seem to care. Now, why do you suppose that is?

He's been successfully sued by many patients, including the case of Julianne Charell, who won a judgement of at least $4.7 million for criminal fraud and felony maiming if she dies.

The New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct has taken action against him in 1994 and again in 1998. Yet he has managed to get this grant. This is the most critical look at Gonzalez I have ever seen on TV. If you missed it, you can send to ABC for a copy of the tape. This is an excellent piece of work by Arnold Diaz. Barrie Cassileth tells it like it is. Radionics is exposed as a fraud, and so is the special hair test. Anyone who treats cancer patients should have this to show their patients.

The Power of Belief - John Stossel's earlier piece that included Gonzalez, and James Randi - Oct. 6, 1998

Maverick Treatments Find U.S. Funding - Jan. 18, 2000 - Washington Post - Cancer Therapy to Be Tested Despite Mainstream Medical Doubts. "...his care of six advanced cancer patients brought harsh criticism from New York regulators in 1994, who found the doctor negligent andordered him to undergo retraining. As the patients' conditions worsened,the board found, Gonzalez failed to order tests or X-rays and sometimesdisregarded evidence of tumor spread.
A Manhattan jury concluded in 1997 that Gonzalez incompetently treateduterine cancer patient Julianne Charell of New York, who was on hisregimen for eight months and eventually went blind and suffered spinaldamage. The jury assessed damages of $4.8 million--eventually reduced toabout $2.3 million.

New York doctor has alternative approach for pancreatic cancer Cancerpage.com story is a great summary of the case against Gonzalez. Dr. Jeff White, Director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine defends the further research on Dr. Gonzalez' approach. Dr. White says of the original pilot research "that study was reported in a respected peer review journal" and he adds "the result was impressive" but since it was not a randomized trial it didn‰t answer the question if Gonzalez‰ therapy was acceptable. With a five year survival rate for all patients with pancreatic cancer of only four percent White says of Gonzalez‰ approachá"it‰s a lead that needs to be followed up."

NIH Funds Study of Alternative Pancreatic Cancer Protocol - June 7, 2000An alternative treatment protocol for pancreatic cancer that uses pancreatic enzymes, dietary supplements and coffee enemas will begin stage III clinical trials, with a $1.4 million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The five-year clinical trial of diet and detoxification at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York by immunologist Dr. Nicholas Gonzales gained approval after a 1993 pilot study, funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), yielded promising results. (Since when is Gonzalez an immunologist?)

The Continuing Case of Nicholas Gonzalez - 1998 - Victor Herbert in SRAMNicholas Gonzalez, MD, is a leading practitioner of many aberrantcancer remedies that he uses liberally in practice. The New York Statelicensing agency attempted to revoke his MD license in New Yorkthree years ago. Revocation was prevented by testimony fromdefenders, such as Harvard's George Blackburn, MD, and AmericanHealth Foundation's Ernst Wynder, PhD. Blackburn and Wyndertestified that Gonzalez's cancer therapy, particularly his oralpancreas-extract supplement, was promising as a cancer cure. Thetestimony and the licensing board ignored the 1990 CongressionalOffice of Technology Assessment (OTA) report to Congress thatGonzalez's claims have no basis in fact.

Support HealthWatcher.net

Canadian Connections

Di Bella Treatment Fails All Tests - Despite claims of curative qualities and intense media and public pressure for free access to a popular alternative cancer treatment, Italian researchers made a sobering discovery: the treatment doesn't work.
The cocktail of medications and vitamin supplements known as the Di Bella Multitherapy (MDB), hailed in Italy as a miracle cure for cancer, was proven ineffective -- and even potentially dangerous to patients.

Italian
Quack Dr. Luigi Di Bella still has followers in Toronto.
Their obvious goal is to prove that all of us are the one's with feathers,
but they are above the law. Let's see how long it takes for the College
of Physicians and Surgeons to take them to task. Judging from the Verma
and Dr. Green cases of the past, I won't pray to St. Anthony.

FTC case against Essiac site in Colorado - the vendor agrees to contact every person he has sold Essiac to with the following note:Not much scientific research has been done on Essiac tea. The research that has been done, however, does not demonstrate that Essiac tea is an effective remedy in fighting cancer or any other disease. One group that looked into Essiac tea as a possible cancer remedy, the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Initiative, wrote: "No formal clinical studies demonstrating that any observed positive outcomes in cancer patients can be attributed to the use of Essiac rather than to other therapies or to the natural history of the disease were found." The group assessed the science on cancer and Essiac: "Weak evidence of effectiveness. Little evidence of harm. This is a widely used agent which has been incompletely studied."

Ken Graw - Alberta's cancer cure centre - "The Holistic Herb Health Center specializes in curing cancer naturally without negative side effects. Ourprograms kill the cancer and not just treat it until one dies."This guy, who is now dead, had so many complaints filed against him, he had to build a bunker to store them in. I wonder if the government of Alberta and the College of Physicians will give him a place in their Medical Hall of Fame, or perhaps place his name in nomination as Minister of Health Misinformation. This guy couldn't even spell Dean Edell's name right.

Scientific review of Essiac - Univ. of Texas CAM siteNo completed formal studies have been documented in the literature and no prospective clinical trials have been conducted.
Several attempts have been made to document the effectivness of Essiac by several Canadian groups, but nothing conclusive has resulted from these attempts.

The company that advertises this product funds the Naturopathic College in Toronto. The Federal government may fund a $100 million complementary medicine school that will study naturopathic and alternative medicine in Hamilton, Ontario.

Cancer tragedies

Suffer the little children - Tovia Lafau's death
A criminal conviction in the basketball tumour case means parents are legally responsible for thewelfare of their children. As Phil Taylor and Donna Chisholm report, it may have implications for LiamWilliams-Holloway.

It was the illness God failed to cure. In the end the lump on Tovia Lafau's knee was the size of a basketball.
At 15kg, it was the biggest cancerous tumour the pathologist had seen, so hideous the police and prosecutiondecided it was unsuitable for publication.

Thomas Navarro's Fight For Medical Freedom - 4 year old with medulloblastoma is being used as an expendible pawn by this right-wing health choice freedom group.This is one of the worst sites that I have ever seen in terms of mixing medicine and politics.

Dr. Burzynski's is on his side - The FDA is still denying Thomas the treatment his parents want him to have. And, unbelievably, NO ONE in the US government is more powerful than the FDA.

God is bigger than the FDA - Thomas's parents have made the decision not to subject him to the dangers and cruelty of radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Jim and Donna Navarro have found a viable alternative that offers Thomas a real chance for a cure and, just as important, a treatment that will provide him with a good quality of life.

Sandra Schmirler - Canada's top skip, lost her life a few weeks after holding press conference with a canadian cancer research group. This link will search for articles on CANOE.CA.

Feb 3 - She also travelled to Ottawa, where she had treatments at the Canadian Cancer Research Group.

Feb 10 - In December, on the recommendation of Pat Reid, the Canadian Curling Association representative who accompanied Team Schmirler to the world and Olympic championships, Schmirler and England travelled to the Canadian Cancer Research Group in Ottawa.

They had been searching for options to treat the disease and the Ottawa centre had developed pills designed to boost an individual's immune system. The medication is expensive -- about $7,500 a year -- and not covered by provincial medicare, but it is something in which Schmirler implicitly believes.

"It is scientific, it's not alternative," she says. "It is based on facts and research. It is based on analysis of body chemistry."

Feb 11 - "Schmirler also offered information about a treatment offered by the Canadian Cancer Research Group in Ottawa. She takes a compound every day to help boost her immune system. "

Feb 22 - Schmirler is currently taking a compound formulated by the Canadian Cancer Research
Group in Ottawa to help boost her immune system weakened by treatment. The Bank of Montreal has started a trust fund for Schmirler to help with costs of treatment not covered by Saskatchewan Health.

Schmirler, 36, died Thursday in the palliative-care unit of Regina's Pasqua Hospital. She is survived by her husband Shannon, two-year-old daughter Sara and daughterJenna, born June 30. (I don't see any mention of the CCRG in this article)

The Tyrell Dueck Tragedy - a 13 year old Saskatchewan kid who died because of alternative cancer quacks and an ultrareligious father.

Debbie was a registered nurse at the Kaiser hospital in Portland, Oregon, but she had a deep distrust of standard medical practice. She didn't have a mammogram for nine years, and when she did -- in March 1996 -- it showed a cancerous lump in her breast. She had the lump removed, but she refused the additional treatment her doctor recommended. Instead she went to a naturopath who gave her -- among other things --
some "Pesticide Removal Tinctures."

Texas cancer therapy uselessThe only independent trial of a controversial cancer therapy being administered to a Stoney Creek girl has shown that the treatment offers no benefit to patients with brain tumours and may, in fact, be harmful.

It's the only independent published examination of the alternative therapy, other than the many ongoing trials being conducted by Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski at his institute in Houston, Texas.

Isiah Hill - Doctors hesitation could leave boy without hope - Minneapolis Star TribuneThe politics of cancer can be achingly absurd. Inside pediatric oncology at the University of Minnesota, a little boy lies panting in a half-raised hospital bed, his fragile body framed by an enormous white mattress that hovers overhead like a maternal ghost, waiting, waiting.

Reversing Cancer Successfully - Geronimo Rubio, M.D. -- Physicians at American Metabolic Institute use up to 150 different nontoxic medications and therapies to teach the immune system to eliminate cancer.

Center for Empirical Medicine - See Dr. Harris L. Coulter if you want the world's expert on the homeopathic treatment of cancer, you've come to the right place. Don't forget that he says that Dr. Andrew Weil says so!! The problem is basically that there is "nothing" to homeopathic treatment for any disease, and "nothing" in its application to cancer, except in the skillful art of deception and quackery. This doctor got his diploma in political science and history. One of his finest achievements was with Dr. Jacques Benveniste in 1997. You all remember that is was Beneveniste who discovered that water had "memory".

World Without Cancer - apricotseeds.com - The Food and Drug Administration, the American Cancer Society, and the American Medical Association have labeled it "fraud" and "quackery". This is the place for all you Ralph Moss, Coley's Toxins, Burzynski, & Cancer Politics fanatics.If you want Krebs - they've got more than you need. Don't forget the Hunza's, those people who eat yak cheese, glacial water, and grass. You wonder why they don't die of cancer? Have you ever tried to live at 20,000 feet without oxygen?

Apricots
from God site - The answer has always been known the Christian Brothers,who the hell are these guys anyway?

How Quackery Harms - - Quackwatch.com - William Jarvis, M.D.here is an old saying: "The highwayman demands 'your money OR your life,' but quacks demand `your money AND your life!'" This statement is particularly true when it comes to dubious cancer treatment. The harm done by quackery may be categorized as economic, direct, indirect, psychological and societal.

- Doctors caution that many 'miracle' claims unproven "The idea that you can pick up an herb in your back yard and put it in a capsule or tea to cure cancer is nothing but someone trying to get rich quickly off of desperate cancer patients."

Go
to a Cancer Quack, It's Your Life - Despite the warnings of the American Cancer Society and others about the cancer quack, people pour an inestimable number of dollars into the pockets of professional and amateur con men. There is not much that you can do if somebody is willing to first buy the Brooklyn Bridge, and then jump off of it.

The Exorbitant Price
of Hope - The professional Miracle-Cure peddlers, on the other hand,are very expensive and they are the Scum of the Earth. Many people makea living off of the misery of others, but these swine offer nothing ofvalue in return, unless you consider false Hope as worth something.

Barrie R. Cassileth, PhD - CA Cancer Journal 1999"Complementary and alternative" therapies are actually a vast collection of disparate, unrelated regimens and products, ranging from adjunctive modalities that effectively enhance quality of life and promising anti-tumor herbal remedies now under investigation, to bogus therapies that claim to cure cancer and that harm not only directly, but also indirectly by encouraging patients to avoid or postpone effective cancer care.

Complementary therapies such as music and massage, herbal teas to aid digestion and relieve nausea, yoga, taichi, meditation, and the many other well-documented techniques that relieve stress and enhance well-being should be made available to patients to augment and ease the experience of cancer treatment and recovery. Many time-tested herbal and diet-based remedies are now being studied for their abilities to induce or extend remission without toxicity.

At the same time, lack of government regulatory authority leaves consumers at the mercy of those who promote unproved remedies, scores of which line grocery store and pharmacy shelves. Many of these over-the-counterproducts contain harmful ingredients. Herb-drug interactions, only some of which are documented, occur with frequency and are sufficiently problematic to require that patients stop taking herbal remedies prior to surgery (to prevent interactions with anesthetics and anticoagulant effects); before radiation (due to potential for increased photosensitivity); and during courses of chemotherapy (to prevent product-drug interactions). Moreover, both good information and misinformation that appear in printed materials and on the Internet appeal to better educated consumers, who are, in fact, the most likely to try complementary and alternative methods. (CA Cancer J Clin 1999;49:362-375.)

Committee for Freedom of Choice in Medicine - Some notes on Robert W. Bradford
The Committee for Freedom of Choice in Medicine (CFCM) is the political arm of several interlocking corporations promoting and/or marketing questionableremedies for cancer and other serious diseases. It is also working to abolish federal and state laws intended to protect consumers in the health marketplace.

Michael L. Culbert, and Rodrigo Rodriguez, MD, the men behind American Biologics hospital, (now known as the International Biologics Hospital), are key figures. Their friends and supporters were brought to Toronto's Total Health 2000 show in order to bolster their failing recruitment drive because their involvement in the treatment of a highly publicized teenager, Tyrell Dueck, who died a few months after they treated him in their Tijuana facility.

*In the 1960's and 1970's, the Bantu (Africa) and Hunza (Himalayan) people were portrayed by laetrile proponents as "cancer free societies, because their diets are rich in laetrile." This was just another bold lie (though it has become part of both "conservative" and "liberal-green" mythology). Both malnutrition and cancer were very common in both societies.

Quackery review article by Ed Piepmeier - He practiced as a Dr. of Chiropractic in the early 1950s, but gave it up and went back to school and took up electronics. After his prostatectomy in 1992, he began writing this book.

Questionable cancer information services

Canadian Cancer Research Group - Ottawa is the home to a number of entrepreneurs who have no hesitation to take your money. If you don't trust your oncologist to give you good information, don't look here. Save your money, it may save your life.

Bill O'Neill claims his treatment methods deliver a 30% better chance ofbeating cancer than conventional medicine. No, O'Neill isn't a doctor. Or a scientist. He's a former computer consultant who founded the Canadian Cancer Research Group (CCRG), an Ottawa company that provides information and treatment options to medicine-weary, information-hungry patients Ö for a price.

"We're often accused of exploiting patients, but that's crap," says O'Neill, who says he drew a salary of about $48 000 in 1998 from reported revenues of $400 000. "It's the industry people who are driving the Lexus."

This article names two medical doctors who are apparently associated with O'Neill's growing empire. They don't publish data, and yet make startling claims for their treatments.

Mr. Bill doesn't like attention down under - I guess that we now have to get down an boogie with Mr. Bill. Since Tyrell and Sandra have gone to the great beyond, his vital organs sapped of strength, Mr. Bill has resorted to send angry e-mails and faxes around the world because of a single link on each of our web sites. The link above is to Australia where you can read for yourself the kinds of things that go on between the forces of truth and those of darkness, greed, and untruths.

People Against Cancer - PAC say that they offer a wide variety of information on non-toxic innovative methods of cancer therapy. For Sustaining Members, they offer direct consultations with physicians and researchers throughout the world andcounseling for those seeking guidance. They only charge $350 U.S. for their services. It looks like Bill O'Neill has company, doesn't it?

"We monitor the world literature to bring our members the latest information about cancer prevention and detection. We join with other activist groups toward ahealthy environment by exposing and eliminating carcinogens in the food, water, air and Workplace. We work to promote healthy changes in lifestyle and providethe latest unbiased information on the role of diet and nutrition in cancer prevention."

Fake healers - Rife - radionics and more

Alternative medicine is a $1 billion-a-year industry. Yet most of the products on sale at your local health food store have never been scientifically tested, and some "cures" can kill you. This is one of the best pieces we have ever seen on the issues of cancer quackery.

HIS doctor was afraid only drastic chemotherapy could save the little boy's life. His parents were convinced the deadly cancer of the jaw could be cured by a gadget that delivers a minute electric current. Last January, four-year-old Liam Williams-Holloway was taken away from the hospital at Dunedin, on New Zealand's South Island, where he was being treated, and placed under the care of Gerard and Dawn Uys, alternative health practitioners with no medical qualifications, who use a homemade device they call a Quantum Booster which they claim "boosts the immune system" and "kills the bacteria that cause cancer".

Pierce County Circuit Judge Robert Wing on Monday also barred Shelvie Rettmann of Prior Lake, Minn., from providing health-care services or products to Wisconsin residents and ordered her to give her customers refunds.

Wisconsin Attorney General James Doyle's office sued Rettmann in December 1997 for breaking Wisconsin consumer-fraud laws.

"This is a case of health quackery at its worst," Doyle said in a written statement. "Rettmann preyed on desperate and vulnerable terminally ill consumers ... and profited from selling them false hope."

Rettmann told customers she could cure cancer with a machine called a "Rife generator," "foot zoning" treatments, a "radionics" machine and various dietary supplements, Doyle said. One cancer patient died after buying about $1,700 worth of bogus treatment from Rettmann rather than getting chemotherapy, Doyle said.